Sunday, May 1, 2011

European Carriers Ask [Again] to Charge Content Providers [Google]

 
Source: FT.com
The issue of peering agreements between the larger content providers (Google et al.) and the major European carriers was raised again (see previous activity below).

Maybe it was recent US conflict between Comcast and Level3 (here) that brought up this issue again in Europe - but anyway the Financial Times reports that "Leading European telecoms companies want to levy significant charges on Google and other online content providers through an overhaul of the regime governing how data travel over the internet .. Operators in Europe complain that they are contending with an explosion of data on their networks, much of which comes from US sites such as Google’s YouTube video service .. The problem for the operators is that while some content providers may be willing to pay for prioritised delivery of their material, Google – a vocal exponent of net neutrality – is unlikely to be among them"


See "Europe telecom groups target Google" - here.
  • Elie Girard (picture), France Telecom’s head of strategy said “our current peering agreements are no longer viable. If the Internet is to continue to develop sustainably, we need to set charges linked to the amount of traffic that goes through our networks.”
     
  • Telefonica’s chairman Cesar Alierta said: “All the peering agreements are going to change, which means [online content providers] will have to pay for traffic.”
Background: This is not for the first time:
  •  "Telefonica CEO: "Google and Yahoo! use networks for free, which is good news for them and a tragedy for us" - here
  • Deutsche Telekom CEO: OTT providers should pay for High Quality" - here 
  • "French Government: Google and Foreign OTTs to Pay for Networks Usage" -here)

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