Through the French Telecoms Federation, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom have just published 15 proposals for the 2022-2027 five-year termin the objective to encourage the web giants to participate in the financing of infrastructures. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Netflix are directly targeted by French telecom operators.
Telecom operators want to charge the biggest consumers of bandwidth
This problem is not new. In November 2021, thirteen CEOs of the main European telecom operators published an open letter in which they “called on the major technological platforms to contribute financially to the costs of deploying telecommunications networks”. Today, the three main French operators intend to carry this fight on a national scale. They demand financial participation from the biggest consumers of bandwidth.
Since the health crisis, Bpifrance has injected 100 billion euros into the French economy
? #Press release ➡️ Operator proposals #telecoms for a #digital innovative and responsible at the service of #growth and some #sovereignty ?? ? https://t.co/5UNxwlglqe#Presidential2022 #legislative2022 pic.twitter.com/ZIpv2q4522
— French Telecoms Federation (@FFTelecoms) February 3, 2022
Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom made a series of proposals for “release investments, accelerate deployments for the benefit of territories, recovery and employment, in a fair competitive framework, responsible for the environment and the inclusion of all audiences”. Through the French Telecoms Federationthe three telecom operators say they want to establish the terms and conditions of a “fair economic and technical contribution of major content providers to the costs of networks in order to ensure their economic and environmental sustainability”.
High-quality video content consumes the most energy
In 2020, 52.5 billion euros were invested in the development of new digital networks in Europe. It’s a record. Telecom operators have seen their expenses increase considerably with the arrival of 5G. In France, the consolidation of the 5G network continues. 17,559 are recognized as being technically operational, i.e. ready to transmit and receive 5G. To support this transition and contribute financially to the development of the networks, the three French operators want GAFAM and Netflix, biggest bandwidth consumerspay to use their infrastructure.
The telecom operators specify that these are the “high quality video content” which force them to invest in expensive equipment to keep up with the load. According to ARCEP figures, Netflix alone accounted for 14% of internet traffic in France in 2017, then 23% in 2018 and more than 20% in 2020. During that same year, Netflix, Google and Facebook accounted for around 53% of traffic in our territory. Still according to ARCEP, despite the increase in digital uses, particularly driven by the democratization of telework, internet networks have not been congested since the health crisis. The agency congratulates “the exceptional mobilization of all the players in the ecosystem “.