More than 80 000 people including technical managers gather at the MWC in Barcelona
2023.02.26 09:22
More than 80 000 people including technical managers gather at the MWC in Barcelona
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – At this week’s largest telecoms conference, Big Tech and European Union telecoms companies are expected to fight over who will finance network infrastructure.
This year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is expected to attract over 80,000 attendees, including tech executives, innovators, and regulators.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s industry chief, started a 12-week consultation on its “fair share” proposals on Thursday. Under these proposals, Big Tech platforms would pay more for the systems that give them access to customers.
Representatives from Alphabet (NASDAQ:), among others Netflix and Meta (NASDAQ:) are anticipated to use the conference as an opportunity to counter the EU’s proposals.
Netflix, a content provider, has made arrangements for its CEO Greg Peters to meet with Breton at the conference. They say that their companies already spend a lot of money on infrastructure.
They claim that investing in consumer-friendly products will be reduced by paying additional fees.
Deutsche Telekom, on the other hand (OTC:), Telefonica, Orange (NYSE:) likewise Telecom Italia have worked hard to get Big Tech to pay the fees.
The MWC’s organizing body, the GSMA, which represents more than 750 mobile operators, has been at the forefront of the discussion.
John Giusti, GSMA’s chief regulatory officer, stated, “This discussion around ‘fair share,’ or what we sometimes call the ‘investment gap,’ is going to be a threshold question.”
The so-called “traffic tax,” according to critics of the fair share or “SPNP” (Sending Party Network Pays) model, could force content-driven platforms to use ISPs (internet service providers) outside of the EU to deliver their services.
According to Orange, the telecom industry’s demands did not include any special privileges. The EU’s consultation, according to a spokesperson, was a “positive first sign” that a debate was beginning.
They stated:
“We argue for a framework that will facilitate a fair and equitable commercial relationship that recognizes a direct contribution to network costs by tech giants.”
Shahid Ahmed, executive vice president at NTT and adviser to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, stated that regulations will be challenging to implement and enforce.
He stated, “We saw something very similar, the entire net neutrality debate, attempted in the U.S.”
Companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi (OTC:), which will also introduce new products at the MWC, which begins on Monday, RealMe, Honor, and HMD Global.
The rate of 5G adoption, which has disappointed some executives, and the potential applications of generative AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are two additional hot topics.
Guisti stated, “Everything on the floor of MWC is about looking to the future.”
