This past Friday, Caribbean telecommunications operators held a meeting in Miami to fine tune their strategy to have Big Tech companies contribute financially to regional telecoms network infrastructure. Hosted by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and taking a similar perspective to the “fair share” proposal currently being debated in the European Union, regional network operators are arguing that over-the-top (OTT) service providers such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Alphabet (Google), TikTok, Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft are responsible for 67 per cent of the total Internet traffic in the Caribbean, but make no contributions or investments toward local delivery networks. Moreover, they further asserted that a market failure is occurring with resultant stalled revenues for telcos, and limited prospects for future growth.
This “fair share” argument is literally reviving antiquated telecoms regulations from the era of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and circuit switched networks. There is no evidence that a real problem or market failure exists in the Caribbean telecoms sector and there has been no credible evidence warranting the introduction of network fees. I challenge Caribbean network operators to provide conclusive data that shows their networks are over capacity, and that they are financially incapable of investing in their own infrastructure, especially when we consider that consumers are already paying for the use and improvement of their networks (Caribbean consumers are currently subjected to some of the highest mobile data costs in the world) – Hence ISPs effectively want to charge twice for the same infrastructure. The Internet has proven its ability to cope with increasing traffic volumes, changes in demand patterns, technology, business models, as well as in the (relative) market power between market players. These developments are reflected in the Internet Protocol (IP) interconnection mechanisms governing the Internet which evolved without a need for regulatory intervention. There are multiple ways to finance network investments that don’t result in irreparable harm to the Internet’s technical architecture, the rights of consumers, and the overall Internet economy (e.g., joint ventures, private investors, spinning off segments into separate companies and seeking limited financing, special purpose vehicles based on public infrastructure funds, etc.).
From a technical standpoint, the Internet is based on different networks negotiating simple connection agreements between each other, based on interoperable technical standards. What Caribbean telcos will more than likely achieve – similar to their European counterparts – is where consumers will be restricted to only accessing content and services that are subject to agreements between ISPs and OTTs, and the quality and conditions of the content delivery will also be subject to the negotiated commercial arrangements. The technical danger of requiring network fees will invalidate the global and open Internet model for permissionless innovation and can lead to a highly fragmented Internet. It is a terrible policy suggestion for our region, and for the Internet as a whole, to suggest ‘rules’ that seek to artificially regulate how IP networks are managed.
This proposal also presents a rights-based threat to Internet users across the Caribbean. One of the most sacrosanct rules of the Internet is ‘net neutrality’, which is that Internet service providers (ISPs) must enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favouring or blocking specific websites or services. Given that ISPs also own what is known as the “last mile” (the physical connectivity to our homes), they can filter what content or services we are able to access, as well as determine the quality of our access. They can do so by blocking content, throttling network performance, and by introducing prolonged congestion that affects consumers negatively […].
The full article can be found on the CircleID website.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this important topic!
Niel Harper 