\n Published on
\n 21\/01\/2026 – 13:54 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n
The European Commission presented its long-awaited Digital Networks Act<\/a> (DNA) on Wednesday, unveiling reforms meant to modernise the European Union’s telecom sector by reorganising the bloc\u2019s fragmented rules.<\/p>\n The Commission wants to accelerate the rollout of high-speed fibre and 5G, and reduce dependency on foreign tech. Yet the final proposal appears diluted, and has left both the telecom industry and big tech dissatisfied \u2013 highlighting the difficulty of reconciling Europe\u2019s ambitions for an unified single telecommunications market with the bloc’s political realities.<\/p>\n At the heart of the tension is the issue of whether tech giants like Google and Netflix should help pay for the networks that carry their data. After intense transatlantic pressure, the Commission backed away from imposing direct \u201cnetwork fees<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n Instead, it proposed a voluntary conciliation mechanism to settle disputes, a move dismissed by telecom operators<\/a> as a \u201ccontinuation of the status quo\u201d and criticised<\/a> by the tech industry as a \u201cbackdoor\u201d to the imposition of fees in the future. <\/p>\n A coalition from the creative industry gathering stakeholders from the cinema, sport leagues, music, video games and TV sectors called Creativity Works! also echoed those worries.<\/p>\n \u201cAny mechanism that intervenes in commercial arrangements between creative content providers and telecom companies risks having unintended consequences on the significant investments in creative and cultural works.\u201d wrote Ann Becker, the head of Creativity Works.<\/p>\n She told Euronews that the initiative could threaten the European creative sectors and their ability to provide diverse content and services to European consumers. <\/p>\n Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters that she believes that the \u201ccooperation\u201d approach is working, but kept the door open for future changes.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course if we see that something is not working and there’s big problems then we will have to always think that how we are fixing the things,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n The DNA also pushes for greater EU-level coordination, notably through a single authorisation for satellite networks like SpaceX\u2019s Starlink and harmonised rules for managing radio spectrum. <\/p>\n