internet lab | Podcast Season: 1 / Episode: 12 - 12-1-2023

1:1 with Konstantinos Komaitis
Internet Policy & Strategy expert and author

Episode Highlights

00:00 Intro

01:26 Q1 - How do you interpret the relationship between users accessing more content and services online and the impact this may have on telcos?

06:21 Q2 - What are the inherent dangers (if any) of Big Tech being requested to pay for the network of telcos?

16:22 Q3 - Do you think it is appropriate to compare the contribution of Big Tech and telcos in infrastructure, as suggested by some?

22:46 You have 1 minute to deliver a message to the powers that be in the EU on the 'fair contribution' discussion: make your case.

24:34 Outro

Key Quotes

"Without content, at the end of the day, there are no customers, and thus there is no traffic."

1 / 18

"The relationships between [Internet] actors are much, much more complex than what a pay-out scheme could possibly solve."

2 / 18

"Telecom operators feel that they deserve special treatment, and that comes from the old way of doing things under the telephone network. (...) On the Internet that’s really not the case."

3 / 18

"The Internet (...) is a decentralised technology, it has no centre of control, so that no one can be more special than the other."

4 / 18

"Telecom networks are important parts of the Internet ecosystem, but they are not the entirety of the Internet ecosystem."

5 / 18

"[Network fees] flip the idea of the global and open Internet on its head, it can also be the cause of great fragmentation."

6 / 18

"It is a really bad policy idea for Europe, as well as for the Internet, to suggest legislation that seeks to regulate how IP networks are managed (...)."

7 / 18

"[Network fees are] really a conversation about net neutrality, because the core thing about net neutrality is the concern of how ISPs can serve as gatekeepers to the content that we users are paying to access."

8 / 18

"Considering that ISPs are literally the only pathway to our homes, they have tremendous power to determine what content I can access and on what terms."

9 / 18

"[Network fees] not only provide an unfair advantage to certain telecom operators and platforms, but will further expand the power telecom operators have in the access market."

10 / 18

"[Network fees:] it goes completely against the existing Open Internet Regulation and will negatively affect the Internet experience in Europe"

11 / 18

"The Commission should ask itself and provide an answer as to how sustainable a model that is premised on Big Tech companies paying out (...) telcos (...) is going to be in the long run."

12 / 18

"Europe has been talking a lot about [digital] sovereignty (...) and right now we're inviting [US companies] within Europe's core infrastructure, because they will be part of the infrastructure once they start negotiating those deals."

13 / 18

"What sort of an Internet future the Commission would like to foster? Is it one where future innovators have the opportunity to participate and contribute? Or is it one where (...) Big Tech or telcos determine the way evolution happens?"

14 / 18

"It is crucial we frame this question as one that seeks to understand the roles and responsibilities (...) within the Internet ecosystem, rather than one that is premised on (...) you have to pay me."

15 / 18

"Europe has a choice to make (...) The choice is whether to have a user centric Internet or one that is driven by a small number of actors: Big Tech or telcos."

16 / 18

"The main question that I would love the Commission and Europe to answer when it comes to this specific [network fee] issue is: why does Europe really want to go backwards?"

17 / 18

"We have a new Commission that is willing to reopen the same debate and have the same conversation, when there is no evidence that we actually need this conversation anymore."

18 / 18

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About Our Guest

Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis | Internet Policy & Strategy expert and author

Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis is a veteran in developing and analysing Internet policy to ensure an open and global Internet. He spent almost ten years in active policy and strategy development as a Senior Director at the Internet society. Before that, he spent 7 years as a senior lecturer at the university of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he was researching and teaching Internet policy. Konstantinos is a public speaker having talked at many events around the world, including a TedX talk. He is also the author of a book on domain name regulation and a writer for a variety of outlets such as Politico, Brookings, Slate, TechDirt, and EurActiv. Finally, he is the co-host with Jillian York of the "Internet of Humans Podcast".

Relevant Resources

Internet collapse made in Europe (Verfassungsblog)

Europe’s Risky Plan for the Internet

29 Internet Experts and Academics send a Letter to the Commission urging to abandon the “Sending-Party-Network-Pays” proposal

European Commission’s 10 January 2023 Response to Letter from 29 Internet Experts and Academics

Internet of Humans Podcast

Konstantinos Komaitis

1:1 with Konstantinos KomaitisInternet Policy & Strategy expert and author