11/10/2023 – BRUSSELS
DOT Europe is encouraged to see the results of the exploratory consultation on the future of the telecoms sector. These clearly demonstrate that there is no grounding, foundation or support for a traffic-based fee. It is notable that this opposition demonstrates that the issue is far larger than the over-simplified narrative of telcos vs tech, and is indicative of the wide repercussions such fees would have on the entire digital ecosystem.
These results echo the position that 18 Member States publicly took in early June, which showed lack of support for this idea in a majority of EU capitals.
“We are pleased to see that the results reflect the common belief that this type of fee is unjustified, unfounded and could have extensive adverse effects”, said Siada El Ramly, Director General of DOT Europe. “It remains the job of Internet Service Providers to invest in the networks that they own and profit from; as it is the responsibility of content and application providers to continue doing what they do best: deliver content and applications that benefit the users and also drive demand for connectivity services in Europe”, she added.
DOT Europe will continue being actively engaged in this debate to ensure policy decisions are informed by a solid evidence base; and that policy choices follow due process, including a robust assessment of their impact.
You can find the results of the exploratory consultation here: Results of the exploratory consultation on the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure | Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu)
And the non-confidential contributions received: EUSurvey – Published Results (europa.eu)
