The battle over network fees is flaring up again, while the friction around Digital Networks Act is exposing a deeper split within Europe’s telecom industry over the shift from copper to fibre.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) took aim at Europe’s telco operators as the latter gathered in Brussels for their annual landmark conference last week. CCIA says “Big Telco” is pushing for “mandatory payments behind closed doors”.

What it terms a “threat” is no longer “theoretical”, said the CCIA. The association representing internet industry firms explained that the Commission’s proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA) text creates two legal pathways for mandatory network fees. 

The so-called “fair share” argument has rumbled on for years with telco operators. They have been unhappy that over-the-top providers of services such as social media, delivery apps, music and film streamers, etc., make their money using the networks provided by the telcos. The traditional argument is that a slice of these revenues should go back to telecoms to help fund those networks.

Tactical silence around “fair share”

But now the telecom lobby “has gone quiet”, said CCIA because it believes MEPs are about to hand them the win they want. “The European Parliament is considering DNA amendments that would turn the Commission’s ‘voluntary’ mechanism into mandatory dispute resolution, harming connectivity in Europe,” said the organisation in its statement.

“Big telecom’s tactical silence is no coincidence,” CCIA added, arguing that reopening the politically contentious “fair share” debate—or declaring victory too soon—could jeopardise amendments now under consideration in Parliament that closely reflect telecom CEOs’ long-standing demands.

The association also warned that the DNA already contains legal routes that could lead to mandatory network fees. CCIA Europe’s Senior Policy Manager Maria Teresa Stecher said lawmakers should reject attempts to strengthen them further. “Otherwise, network fees risk becoming embedded in Europe’s telecom rulebook at the expense of net neutrality,” she said.

CCIA’s Senior Vice President Daniel Friedlaender likewise argued that the apparent silence does not mean the industry has abandoned its demands. Behind closed doors, he said, telecom leaders continue to push for a mandatory payment regime despite the potential consequences for the open internet.

However there may be another reason telcos have “gone silent” on fair share: the industry is fighting on another DNA front.

The next battle: copper versus fibre

Last week, five industry associations from Germany, Sweden and Denmark led by BREKO (the Federal Association for Broadband Communication in Germany) called for a more predictable path for Europe’s “copper switch-off” — the big move by telcos from traditional copper wires to fibre.

The DNA proposal sets a common direction towards full fibre connectivity, with national plans for the transition. An impact assessment suggested that without a mandatory copper switch-off framework, full fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage across the EU would not be achieved until 2051.

It also acknowledges that the continued existence of copper networks is a key “problem driver” behind the slow roll-out and low uptake of fibre networks. 

The signatories thus want a faster timetable to switch from copper. “Rather than waiting until 2035 to initiate the final criteria-based phase, the Commission should already develop the technical details for implementation in parallel,” said their joint statement.

“The DNA is an important opportunity to set a clear direction for this transition. The switch-off process should be triggered by the availability of fibre infrastructure and include an ambitious threshold of homes passed,” say the organisations. They argue that regulatory certainty is a prerequisite for investment into fibre deployment. 

Demand, not command

Telco operators are less convinced. Seventeen CEOs of Europe’s leading telecom companies including Orange, KPN, Telefónica, Liberty Global, Proximus and Deutsche Telekom said in a recent open letter that “the current proposal for the DNA fails to address Europe’s need to materially improve investment and innovation conditions for connectivity”.

They want “investment driven by demand, not by command”. In other words, let us decide when the move from copper to fibre makes most sense.

“European telcos invest over €30bn per year in FTTH,” they say. But they argue that mandating operators to switch off functional copper-fibre networks would not bring more fibre. Such a top-down approach, they note, would restrict consumer choice, weaken infrastructure competition and ignore different market conditions across Europe.

The DNA is currently being scrutinised by the European Parliament. Rapporteur Michał Kobosko (Renew/POL) recently told EU Perspectives that the work will take months and negotiations are going to be very tough. “We’re at the early stage of work in Parliament so we will need to find a compromise among the political groups. But when we listen to the national governments or national regulators, I would say that their appetite to change the status quo is really limited. What we hear is: why should we change a system that works pretty well?”

MEPs’ work is going to remain difficult with all interested stakeholders lobbying hard in different directions.