Europe's telecoms operators say Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), Meta's (META.O) Facebook, Netflix (NFLX.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) should bear some of the costs because they make up a huge part of internet traffic.
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) call it fair-share funding while Big Tech says it amounts to an internet tax.
The French commissioner, a former chief executive at France Telecom and supporter of the operators' push, faced blowback from some of his fellow commissioners and some EU countries.
Breton will likely voice concerns about the recent acquisitions of telecoms stakes by sovereign investment funds and private equity firms to EU telecoms ministers at an Oct. 23-24 meeting in Leon, Spain, another person said.
($1 = 0.9418 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Tomasz Janowski, Mark Porter
Organizations:
Big Tech, European Commission, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, EU, Thomson
Locations:
BRUSSELS, Europe, Orange, Leon, Spain