European telco CEOs call on US tech players to fund network expansion

A joint statement from 13 European telco bosses has called on US tech giants to fund Europe’s network expansion.

The letter includes the signatures of chief executives of Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, BT, Telia, Altice Portugal and Vodafone among numerous others. It said that US tech players should contribute to the continent’s network growth due to the overwhelming amount of data they use. 

In 2020, investments in Europe’s telecommunications sector rose to €52.5 billion as operators look to cope with data and cloud services provided by the likes of Netflix, YouTube and Facebook. No companies are explicitly mentioned by the statement. 

The joint statement, which was reported on by Reuters said: “A large and increasing part of network traffic is generated and monetized by big tech platforms, but it requires continuous, intensive network investment and planning by the telecommunications sector. A large and increasing part of network traffic is generated and monetized by big tech platforms, but it requires continuous, intensive network investment and planning by the telecommunications sector.

“We estimate that they would forcibly remove over €2 billion revenues from the sector in a 4 year period, which is equivalent to 2.5% of the sector’s yearly investment capacity for mobile infrastructure.”

The statement also fires at EU governments, criticising their high spectrum prices and auctions and accusing them of using their businesses as ‘cash cows’.