AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A group of European telecoms regulators does not support the idea of big tech companies like Google and Netflix paying for telecoms infrastructure, initial results released on Tuesday said.

The findings of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) come as the European Commission debates whether internet platforms should be required to fund digital infrastructure such as 5G telecom networks given their heavy use.

“BEREK has not found any evidence that such a method (direct compensation) is justified given the current market situation,” read BEREC’s conclusions.

The telecoms industry has argued that Google, Netflix, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple should pay for a “fair share” of telecoms infrastructure since their services account for more than half of internet traffic.

But digital rights groups fear that if the big tech companies fund the infrastructure, they will also sign deals with telcos to give their own traffic preferential treatment, undermining the principle of net neutrality.

In response to the BEREC findings, telecoms lobby group ETNO – the European Telecommunications Network Operators, which represents Deutsche Telekom, Orange Group, Telefonica and others – dismissed the BEREC findings as outdated and said it would give the commission new evidence Submit position in support.

BEREC’s findings said that the internet has historically proven resilient to changing traffic patterns and following ETNO’s proposals “could do significant damage”.

EU industry chief Thierry Breton said the European Union would look into the matter in early 2023.