Deutsche Telecom and other major telecom companies have urged the European Commission to ensure that major online platforms share the burden of costly investments in network capacity infrastructure, Belgian news portal EurActiv reports.

In an open letter to the EU executive, the leaders of Telefónica in Spain, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Vodafone in Britain and Orange in France explained that they had to make significant investments to improve the capacity of their networks during the Covid-19 pandemic as internet traffic increased dramatically. in the midst of blockages.

Also read: Finland allows restaurants to stay open longer, other rules could be lifted in March

“Continued investment is fundamental to ensuring unrestricted citizen access and participation in our digital society,” the group of CEOs wrote. “But the current situation is simply not tenable. The investment burden must be shared more proportionately.”

Telecom companies have calculated that social media, video streaming and gaming take up more than 70% of traffic. These e-commerce services are owned by a handful of hyper-scalers who manage to reap huge profits. Big telecoms operators have argued that they have yet to cover the cost of connectivity, as their profits have steadily fallen, reports EurActiv.