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Please note that this is an in-person only stakeholder workshop and will not be live-streamed.

In February 2023, the European Commission launched an exploratory consultation to gather views from stakeholders on the potential developments of the connectivity sector and its infrastructure.

The consultation also seeks stakeholders' views on how to ensure that the investments required to roll out such infrastructure are mobilised in a timely fashion across the Union. In this context, the consultation is also part of an open dialogue with stakeholders about the potential need for all players benefitting from the digital transformation to fairly contribute to the investments in connectivity infrastructure.

Mobile data traffic is forecasted to increase by 25% per year towards 2030, requiring operators to continuously expand network capacity. Yet, according to industry stakeholders, the return on investment in infrastructure for network operators is low, raising concerns that operators, despite investing at rates of up to 20% of revenue, cannot keep up with the increasing traffic and meet the Digital Decade targets.

This EURACTIV debate will coincide with the end of the consultation period and will discuss the possible models for the implementation of fair contribution to network costs essential to secure a sustainable and resilient future internet ecosystem. Questions to be discussed include:

- What is the model proposed by the European telecommunications industry?
- What are the other possible models: direct contribution (commercial or cost based), fund solutions?
- What are the potential pros and cons of the different mechanisms for the wider internet ecosystem?
- Which regulatory framework would best support the preferred solution?

Please note that this is an in-person only stakeholder workshop and will not be live-streamed.

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