Sources familiar with the matter they said to Reuters that a majority of EU member states are against imposing a levy on big tech companies to cover the infrastructure costs of 5G.
Several countries warned that a levy could lead to investment gaps and that the extra costs would be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
Countries that have been critical of the levy include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary and Italy supported the idea while Poland, Portugal and Romania were neutral.
According to the heads of mobile and broadband networks, big tech companies such as Alphabet and Meta are the main beneficiaries of the telecommunications infrastructure. So telcos say it's right to shoulder the costs to help maintain the networks they rely on.
Of course, the big tech companies have rejected this idea, and argue that they are constantly reinvesting their revenue into the digital ecosystem which benefits societies, and if they have to pay a levy, they won't have that much to reinvest.
EU member states expressed their opinions to EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton in Luxembourg a few days ago. He will issue a report by the end of the month with a summary of the comments he will receive from major technology companies, telecommunications and others related to the issue. It will also outline the next steps it will take.
If the telcos don't get their act together, we're likely to see mergers like the one being discussed by Vodafone and Three in the UK.
With fewer competitors, telecoms providers will be able to charge customers higher prices to help cover the costs of their networks.
