Big Tech companies that are responsible for more than 5% of a telecoms providers peak traffic should be mandated to contribute towards the rollout of 5G and broadband access in Europe.
A draft proposal from industry associations GSMA and ETNO, reviewed by Reuters, forms part of a response to a European Commission consultation.
GSMA and ETNO members include Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, Telecom Italia and Vodafone.
They say that between them Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft.
“We propose a clear threshold to ensure that only large traffic generators, who impact substantially on operators’ networks, fall within the scope,” the draft reads.
“Large traffic generators would only be those companies that account for more than 5% of an operator’s yearly average busy hour traffic measured at the individual network level.”
Telcos have consistently lobbied for a contribution from Big Tech towards their ‘cost’ of carriage, but this is the first time a threshold has been placed on when this would be introduced.