The European telecommunications industry is apparently closer than ever to its goal of having large U.S. tech companies share in its infrastructure costs. According to industry circles, a kind of data toll could become reality as early as 2023, reports the Handelsblatt.
The levy, the amount of which and its exact mode of operation are currently still open, would hit companies such as Netflix, whose services generate particularly high data revenues. The debate is already in its “hot phase,” Alessandro Gropelli, deputy director of the telecom lobbying association ETNO, told Handelsblatt. Tech groups and civil society organizations see net neutrality in danger in the event of implementation. A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said in response to a question that a contribution by the tech industry to network expansion costs would in principle be compatible with net neutrality.
However, she said it was currently too early “to provide information on concrete plans and timelines.”