Joint Industry, NGO, Consumer, Telecom, MEPs and Rightsholder Statement against Network Fees

A very broad coalition of stakeholders has come together to publicly warn against introducing network fees via a joint statement. This includes many industries and sectors, consumers and civil society and a very broad alliance. For your background, you can find the latest version attached. It is accompanied by a supporting statement signed by a few MEPs, which you can also find attached.

This is an unprecedented alliance of stakeholders all united against one principle: introducing a mandatory network fee, or “fair share” contribution. This is clearly not just about big tech and big telcos. European SMEs, the creative industry, civil society and consumers all believe that there is no proof that there is a market failure to be addressed, and the solution proposed by large telecom providers would pose serious threats to competition, consumers’ freedom of choice, and the internet ecosystem as a whole. In light of this and many other concerns, the European Commission should launch a thorough and comprehensive impact assessment and evidence gathering exercise before jumping to hasty conclusions.