Ireland among countries pushing back against EU 'streaming fee'

European Commission executives have said that they are interested in examining how streaming platforms such as Netflix could shoulder costs for telecom providers

Ireland was one of seven countries to write a letter urging the European Commission to be cautious of the idea.

Seven countries, including Ireland, have sent a jointly written letter urging the European Commission to be cautious as it considers measures to force internet companies to help pay for upgrades to telecom firms’ infrastructure.

Commission officials - including Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton - said in May that they are interested in examining how streaming platforms such as Netflix Inc and Google’s YouTube could help telecom providers shoulder the cost of the infrastructure they rely on.