internet lab | Podcast Season: 1 / Episode: 2 - 13-10-2022

1:1 with MEP Karen Melchior
Renew Europe

Episode Highlights

00:00 Intro

01:27 Q1 - How do you interpret the relationship between users accessing more content and services online and the impact this may have on telcos?

04:17 Q2 - What are the inherent dangers (if any) of Big Tech being requested to pay for the network of telcos?

08:28 Q3 - Do you think it is appropriate to compare the contribution of Big Tech and telcos in infrastructure, as suggested by some?

12:10 You have 1 minute to deliver a message to the powers that be in the EU on the 'fair contribution' discussion: make your case.

15:25 Outro

Key Quotes

"Having specific taxes or payments from the service providers will actually be a tax on innovation."

1 / 6

"By just saying that Big Tech should pay more, we are blindsiding ourselves to where the real issues are and how we solve the problems more fundamentally."

2 / 6

"It's the end users using the services of the big platforms that are driving the traffic. It's not the Big Tech companies as such that are driving the traffic themselves."

3 / 6

"I think it's a way for the telcos and the telecommunication infrastructure companies to try and sort of shrug away from their obligations and the need for investment."

4 / 6

"We shouldn't try [to] superficially get more money into the [telecoms] infrastructure, just by taxing the companies that we don't like."

5 / 6

"Maintain a free, open and transparent Internet, including the telco infrastructure, for Europe, in order for us to flourish as a digital continent."

6 / 6

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About Our Guest

Karen Melchior | Danish MEP - Renew Europe

Karen Melchior is a Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Her parliamentary activities include coordinating the Renew Europe-members of the Committee on Legal Affairs. She is also part of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality as well as the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. As an MEP, she is thoroughly invested in the legislative work related to technology and Artificial Intelligence regulation. Ms Melchior is especially concerned with digital rights and consumer protection. As a result, she was one of the 40 MEPs who co-signed a letter In July this year expressing their concerns regarding the impact of current discussions on net neutrality and asking for a consultation of any measures implying new forms of access fees on the Internet.

Relevant Resources

July 2022 MEP Letter to the European Commission

European Parliament MEP Page

1:1 with MEP Karen MelchiorRenew Europe