"Fair Share” Call – Will Big Tech Pay? + MASMOVIL Update w/ Pablo Asbo

The current European Telco legislative framework is being reviewed. A public consultation has started under the wide-reaching title ''The future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure''.

A key component of this is the debate around “fair share” – which is a call by the operators for OTT providers to pay for usage: Figures as high as €30-35bn per annum have been mentioned. A lot of questions to be answered, which we will try to address on the call, for example: Will this be a lucrative windfall tax for the sector? Or a tax on US tech collected by the Governments, by-passing the operators? Or a damp squib as it is lobbied out of existence?

We are delighted to be joined by Pablo Asbo to debate this issue. Pablo will be able to talk about the economics and the politics behind the policy review, including the “fair share” debate. We will refer to the EC consultation documents where we can see the EC preliminary analysis and areas of focus. In addition, we have speeches to analyse from Thierry Breton who is heading up the review, industry reaction, Member State reaction (The Netherlands is opposed to OTT paying – Net Neutrality debate rekindled), and studies from economic consultancies to consider as well.

Other interesting topics covered included in the consolidation include Pan-European consolidation, and we will also discuss the Orange-Masmovil deal with Pablo, that will almost certainly go to Phase 2 in late March.