• The topic of ‘fair share’ payments is still highly contentious
• A European lobby group claims Italy’s telecom regulator, AGCOM, is using a ‘back-door’ route to enable telcos to charge big tech firms and content delivery networks (CDNs) for transmitting data over their networks  

The thorny topic of ‘fair share’ payments, whereby telcos are keen to get big tech firms, such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Netflix and other so-called ‘large traffic generators’ (LTGs), to contribute to their capex budgets, has reared up again courtesy of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a lobby group for large tech and internet companies (the ones that the telcos want to charge for carrying their data and video traffic). 

The CCIA has issued a statement saying that the decision by Italian telecom regulator AGCOM to reclassify content delivery networks (CDNs) as electronic communications networks (ECNs) will subject CDN operators to “an existing dispute resolution mechanism under Italian law. This hands large telecom operators a powerful tool to demand payments from CDNs and content providers, pressuring them into paid agreements.” 

One of those telcos would be Telecom Italia (TIM), which is among the European operators keen on the introduction of fair share payments. 

AGCOM’s decision was made during the summer – internet law expert Konstantinos Komaitis wrote about the potential impact of Agcom’s move several weeks ago – but the Brussels-based CCIA has just issued its statement, perhaps to coincide with the FT Connect Europe Forum (being held in Brussels) where European telco CEOs are calling for relaxed regulations and greater support from the European Commission (EC). 

According to the CCIA, AGCOM’s move is “setting a dangerous precedent that shows how the EC’s forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA) could introduce network fees across the EU through the back door. 

CCIA Europe’s policy manager, Maria Teresa Stecher, stated: “What is happening in Italy is the first act of a play that could soon spread across the entire EU. For months, we’ve heard from the European Commission that network fees are off the table. Yet mandatory IP dispute resolution keeps resurfacing under different names – and Italy shows us exactly what that means in practice. The commission has a clear choice: Follow Italy down a path that would break the internet, or uphold its commitment to an open digital economy. We urge EU policymakers to learn from Italy’s misstep and ensure that the Digital Networks Act does not include any mechanism that could be used to impose network fees, directly or through the back door.” 

The CCIA also notes that the prospect of network fees was “explicitly ruled out” by the recent US/European Union trade agreement brokered recently by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald J. Trump. The White House fact sheet about the agreement includes a paragraph about an intention to “address unjustified digital trade barriers”, with the White House claiming that “the European Union confirms that it will not adopt or maintain network usage fees. Furthermore, the United States and the European Union will maintain zero customs duties on electronic transmissions.” 

But that agreement is not yet a done deal: The EC noted in its  announcement about the deal that “the political agreement of 27 July 2025 is not legally binding. Beyond taking the immediate actions committed, the EU and the US will further negotiate, in line with their relevant internal procedures, to fully implement the political agreement.” The EC has also not ruled out the inclusion of ‘fair share’ rules in the region’s Digital Networks Act – no wonder the CCIA is spitting feathers.   

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV