European Union: Published BEREC assessment of need for remuneration of internet service providers by content and application providers

On 7 October 2022, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) issued a paper with a preliminary assessment of the need to regulate payments of large content and application providers (CAPs) to internet service providers (ISPs). In particular, it focuses on the implementation of a "direct compensation" mechanism proposed by the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO). BEREC found no evidence that the direct compensation mechanism is justified and concluded that its implementation could generate market distortions. Further, BEREC found that the mechanism could present several risks for the Internet ecosystem.