The European Telecommunications Operators Association (GSMA) said in a draft proposal that technology companies that account for 5% of the average peak Internet traffic of telecom providers should pay for the construction of 5G and broadband networks in Europe.
The draft is a response to a consultation on the issue launched by the European Commission in February, with feedback due by this Friday. The draft was prepared by members including Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia and Vodafone, but has not yet been published.
The proposal comes against the backdrop of slow progress in deploying 5G networks in Europe. In a special report, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) warned that Europe is behind the target set out in an action plan in 2016 to achieve 5G network coverage in all urban areas and on all major transport routes by 2025. The European Commission also acknowledged that Europe is lagging behind the U.S. and China in 5G due to issues such as spectrum allocation, cybersecurity and infrastructure investment.
According to Ookla, European countries have a mixed performance in terms of 5G speed and coverage. Ookla predicts that Western Europe will have nearly 69 million 5G subscribers by the end of 2022, with that number growing to 330 million by 2027.
The contribution of technology companies to the construction of 5G networks is not yet clearly defined, but the GSMA believes that these companies share the benefits with telecom operators and should bear some of the costs, which the GSMA says will help accelerate the spread of 5G networks and bring more innovation and economic benefits to Europe.
