European 5G construction encounters bottleneck, telecom operators require technology giants to share the cost.

CTOnews.com, May 17 (Reuters)-the European Association of Telecommunications operators (GSMA) said in a draft proposal that technology companies that account for 5% of the average peak Internet traffic of telecom providers should pay for the construction of 5G and broadband networks in Europe, Reuters reported.

The draft is feedback on a consultation on the issue launched by the European Commission in February, and the deadline for feedback is this Friday. The draft was prepared by members including Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telef ó nica, Telecom Italia and Vodafone, but has not yet been made public.

CTOnews.com noted that the proposal was made against the backdrop of slow progress in the deployment of 5G networks in Europe. In a special report, the European Audit Office (ECA) warned that Europe lagged behind the goal in the 2016 action plan to achieve 5G network coverage in all urban areas and all major transport routes by 2025. The European Commission also acknowledged that Europe lagged behind the United States and China in 5G because of issues such as spectrum allocation, cyber security and infrastructure investment.

According to Ookla, European countries vary in terms of 5G speed and coverage. The Netherlands, Cyprus and Bulgaria are at the top, while France, Germany and the UK are at the bottom. Ookla predicts that there will be nearly 69 million 5G users in Western Europe by the end of 2022, and that number will grow to 330 million in 2027.

There is no clear definition of the contribution of technology companies to the construction of 5G networks, but GSMA believes that these companies should bear some of the costs by sharing the benefits with telecom operators. This will help accelerate the popularity of 5G networks and bring more innovation and economic benefits to Europe, GSMA said.