internet lab | Podcast Season: 1 - Episode: 1 / Release date: 6-10-2022

1:1 with Michal Boni
SME Connect

Episode Highlights

00:00 Intro

01:41 Q1 - How do you interpret the relationship between users accessing more content and services online and the impact this may have on telcos?

07:41 Q2 - What are the inherent dangers (if any) of Big Tech being requested to pay for the network of telcos?

13:02 Q3 - Do you think it is appropriate to compare the contribution of Big Tech and telcos in infrastructure, as suggested by some?

18:41 You have 1 minute to deliver a message to the powers that be in the EU on the 'fair contribution' discussion: make your case.

20:01 Outro

Key Quotes

"Why only Big Tech? They are using [the] networks for data transmission, for traffic, but on the other side, they are organising services which are used by users, which are bringing profits to the telco companies. And the telco companies have profits and incomes related to our subscriptions!"

1 / 5

"Avoid all possible unintended consequences for usual users, for small and medium enterprises, for public institutions, because those unintended consequences can bring the danger of discrimination and break the net neutrality principle."

2 / 5

"Users’ accessibility to more content and services online is crucial for digital development. That was understood at that time, [and] it should be understood now, as a driver for more profitable investment."

3 / 5

"After COVID it's especially visible that SMEs started to use digital tools (...) It's of course related to the services, to the content via the network."

4 / 5

"There is a positive link between the growth of accessibility of services and content for users, more traffic, and opportunities to create [a] more balanced economic result of telco operations’ current and future investment."

5 / 5

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About Our Guest

Michal Boni | Former MEP / Special Advisor for Digitalisation & AI - SME Connect

As a Polish politician, Michal Boni was a pioneer in digital matters both as the first minister of Digital Affairs in Central Eastern Europe and as the author of several strategy plans on how to develop the digital economy and society in his home country. In 2014, he took his expertise to Brussels as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), where he led on key digital files covering privacy, 5G, interoperability, open science cloud and artificial intelligence (AI). Since 2019, he works with different organisations, including SME Connect, the Martens Centre, and the Digital Enlightenment Forum, while also sharing his knowledge of digital matters with the University for Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw, Poland and the European University in Cyprus.

Relevant Resources

SME Connect

1:1 with Michal BoniSME Connect