European Officials Push Telecom Regulating for Tech

For regulators in Brussels, the divide between European telecommunication companies and American tech companies is fast eroding. Already, Facebook’s online messaging services now compete with -- and in many cases have overtaken -- traditional text messaging offered by mobile operators. Many European carriers provide similar pay-TV products that rival the likes of Netflix and Youtube. And tech and telecom operators are jockeying to offer smartphone services that are driving a rapid expansion of data use, as people across the European Union increasingly surf the web through their mobile devices. Those blurring lines have moved European officials to argue for regulating many tech companies’ under the same strict rules that govern telecom and cable operators, a decision that could have broad implications for the tech companies. “Similar services should be treated in similar ways,” Roberto Viola, a senior official at the European Commission, said at the ETNO-MLex Regulatory Summit, an industry conference in Brussels. “If you ask customers to pay for a service over the Internet, then it’s perfectly normal that regulation should apply.”

Europe’s efforts to extend the region’s telecom regulation to American tech companies are part of a series of reforms introduced in May aimed at energizing the local digital economy. As part of the proposals, which likely will take years to complete, the European Commission will investigate how so-called online platforms, like Uber, the ride-booking service, and Airbnb, the home rental website, use data provided by their users and whether these companies unfairly promote their own services over those of rivals. European officials also will look specifically at how online messaging services like WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, are regulated, so that they compete equally with rival services provided by Europe’s traditional carriers. The regulatory push, which is aimed at policing online platforms in a similar way to traditional carriers, has not been welcomed by American tech companies.