Fighting Between Big Tech And European Telecommunication Operators At The MWC Conference Will Be Heat

The head of the EU industry, Thierry Breton (left), will be a key figure at MWC. (photo: twitter @ThierryBreton)

JAKARTA - The debate between Big Tech and European Union telecommunications companies over who will fund network infrastructure is predicted to dominate talks at the world's largest telecommunications conference, Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year at Barcelona. More than 80,000 people, including technology executives, innovators, and regulators, are scheduled to attend the event.

On Thursday 23 February, EU industry chief Thierry Breton launched a 12-week consultation on a "fair part" proposal, in which the Big Tech platform will bear more costs from systems that give them access to consumers.

Representatives from companies like Alphabet, Meta, and Netflix are expected to use the conference as a platform to oppose this EU proposal.

Content providers like Netflix argue that their companies are investing heavily in infrastructure and paying additional costs will reduce investment in products that are beneficial to consumers. On the other hand, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Italian Telecom have been actively lobbying for Big Tech to pay costs.

The GSMA association, which represents more than 750 cellular operators and the organizing body behind MWC, has been at the forefront of the debate. Critics of the "SPNP" (Sending Party Network Pays) model or a fair share have warned of traffic taxes that are said to be able to make content platforms switch through ISPs outside the EU.

MWC, which starts on Monday, February 27, will also see the launch of new products from companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Honor, and RealMe. Other hot topics include 5G adoption rates, which have disappointed several executives, and the potential use of generative AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

"Everything in the MWC is about looking into the future," said Giusti, chief GSMA regulatory officer.