MEPs urge Commission to not introduce fair share provisions

Article summary

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have urged the European Commission to not introduce fair share provisions in the Connectivity Infrastructure Act set to be proposed in autumn 2022. MEPs note that although no specific proposal is known, press statements indicate a plan to introduce fair share provisions requiring online service providers to pay telecom operators in order to fund the cost of upgrading broadband networks. MEPs state that doing so without consulting the public, technology experts, academics, civil society or expert regulatory agencies should not be pursued, especially because similar proposals for access fees have been consistently rejected as harmful. The letter addressed to the Commission warns that this would ‘reverse decades of successful internet economics’ and ‘abolish key net neutrality guarantees that Europeans fought hard for’ by allowing broadband companies to leverage their monopoly over customers and charge exorbitant prices to online service providers. The letter further highlights that every strong net neutrality regime has...