The Association of Commercial Television has voiced its concerns at the prospect of being charged by telecom operators for the bandwidth used by online TV platforms.
In a statement released Friday, the ACT said ‘taxing’ high bandwidth services would be counterproductive and risks having unintended consequences, including on consumer rights and net neutrality principles.
French broadcaster TF1 – owned by Bouyges which has interests in IPTV and mobile telecoms – declined to back the statement.
The ACT argues that broadcasters and on demand services are already subject to a string of investment obligations designed to support European culture and diversity. It also says ACT members are already making significant investment in networks to ensure the delivery of their content.
“The statements we have seen indicate an intention to generate network fees based on bandwidth use. Besides the complete lack of accurate evidence provided to corroborate such plans, requiring AVMS providers, among others, to pay direct contributions to large telecom companies would cause a number of issues; not just to the audiovisual industry, but to the European creative sector as a whole, including for consumers and on pricing.”
It says the introduction of a network tax undermines net neutrality, which gives all users of the internet a clear run, and says the ACT has helped protect media plurality since the birth of the internet.
