Europe’s top telecom regulator dealt a strong blow to Europe’s biggest telecoms in a report released in October, finding “no evidence” to justify the proposal from large broadband companies like Deutsche Telekom and Orange to force websites and apps to pay them.

The report comes after European Commission officials earlier this year advanced a proposal by ETNO, the lobbying organization of large European telecoms, to require online services to pay unprecedented termination fees¹ to broadband providers. This would have rushed through dramatic changes to Europe’s internet ecosystem without consulting expert agencies or the public.

After a public outcry and letters of concern from seven member states, 54 European Parliament members, and 34 civil society groups, the Commission delayed consideration of the proposal. This gave BEREC, the EU’s expert telecom agency, time to complete its study of the proposal.

Now, BEREC has weighed in with a 15-page report. They found unequivocally that this proposal is both unnecessary and “could be of significant harm to the internet ecosystem.”

This harsh criticism from the EU’s top experts is a severe blow to large ISPs’ latest attempt to force websites and apps to pay broadband providers on top of what they are already being paid by their customers for the same service.

Read full blog post here.