At the end of February 2023, the European Commission launched a highly anticipated exploratory public consultation on “the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure” that notably looks into the fair share / network fees debate – deadline: 19 May, midnight Brussels time (CEST).

C4C’s response to this consultation can be found here and below. Our answers are limited to ‘Section 4. Fair contribution by all digital players’ (see p. 36ff). Similar views have been expressed by various other stakeholders, including civil society.

Why it matters: This discussion, which has been mainly framed as Big Tech vs Big Telco, has a broader impact, as it risks negatively impacting net neutrality and turn Internet users, and other stakeholders, like startups, into collateral damage. For example, any cost increases for content providers are likely to be passed on to users, and any cost increases for major cloud providers will be passed on to their customers.