Telefonica CEO argues for non-neutral Web

Michael Carroll | August 31, 2010

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Telefonica believes net neutrality should be ended so carriers can levy higher fees on firms with bandwidth-hungry applications and services.

CEO Julio Linares says the current fixed-fee model isn’t working, and that carriers must be allowed to explore new payment methods to cover the rising costs of network investment, Reuters reported.

Telcos could face a situation where expenses are higher than revenues if they aren’t allowed to charge heavy users like Google more, Linares told delegates at a Spanish telecoms conference yesterday.

“There is neither infinite space for Internet providers, not infinite capacity on networks,” Linares said.

Vodafone has already mooted the idea of charging providers of bandwidth-heavy content more, and Orange is drawing up plans for tiered pricing.

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Michael Carroll