Big Tech’s ‘fair share’ debate is set to dominate the Barcelona Mobile Summit.

BARCELONA, Feb 27 (Reuters) – A tussle between big tech companies and European Union telecoms companies over who will write network infrastructure is said to dominate discussions at the world’s biggest telecoms conference this week.

Representatives from tech companies including Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ), META ( META.O ) and Netflix ( NFLX.O ) attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona are expected to push against the proposals from the European Union.

This year, more than 80,000 tech executives, innovators and regulators are descending on Monday, and this year’s new product launches are sure to draw attention.

Last week, EU industry chief Thierry Breton launched a 12-week consultation at the Big Tech Forum on proposals for a “fair share” of the costs of rolling out 5G and broadband across the EU.

Breton spoke at an opening event on Monday morning alongside Orange ( ORAN.PA ) Chief Executive Christel Heidemann and Telefonica ( TEF.MC ) Chief Executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Palte.

“Now is the time for collaboration between telcos and Big Tech,” Alvarez-Palte said at the conference.

“Collaboration means everyone contributes fairly to the effort,” he said.

The Dutch government on Monday warned against imposing internet fees on tech companies, becoming the first EU government to criticize Breton’s plan.

Such a move could violate net neutrality rules and lead to higher prices for Europeans, he said.

Content providers such as Netflix, whose CEO Greg Peters arranged to meet Breton at the conference, argue that their companies are investing heavily in infrastructure.

They say that paying more will detract from investment in products that benefit consumers.

In contrast, Deutsche Telekom ( DTEGn.DE ), Orange ( ORAN.PA ), Telefonica ( TEF.MC ) and Telecom Italia ( TLIT.MI ) have been actively demanding payment.

GSMA, the association representing more than 750 mobile operators and the organizing body behind MWC, has been at the forefront of the debate.

“This will be a starting question for the discussion around ‘fair share,’ or what we sometimes call the ‘investment gap,'” said John Giusti, GSMA’s chief regulatory officer.

Critics of the fair share or “SPNP” (Sender Party Network Payment) model have warned of a so-called “traffic tax” on content-based platforms by ISPs (Internet Service Providers) outside the EU.

Orange told Reuters the telecoms industry was not asking for special rights in its requests. A spokesman said the start of the EU consultation was a “positive first sign”.

We argue for a framework that facilitates a fair and equitable trade relationship that recognizes the direct contribution of tech giants to network spending.

However, the regulations will be difficult to implement and enforce, said Shahid Ahmed, executive vice president of NTT and a consultant to the US Federal Communications Commission.

“We’ve seen something very similar – the whole net neutrality argument – being tried in the US,” he said.

MWC, which starts on Monday, will also see new products from companies including HMD Global, Honor, Huawei ( HWT.UL ), RealMe and Xiaomi ( 1810.HK ).

Other hot topics include the rate of 5G adoption, which has disappointed some executives, and the use of generative AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

“Everything on the MWC floor is about looking to the future,” Gisty said.

Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, Martin Coulter and Joan Faus; Editing by Alexander Smith and Jason Neely

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