Jean-Jacques Sahel, Skype’s European Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs, has hit out at mobile network operators who are trying to charge Internet companies fees to run their data on their networks, justifying the move by arguing that the practice of accessing the Internet via mobile devices is a drain on their networks.

This issue of heavy data usage, of course, was a key one at this year’s Mobile World Congress, and there seems to be a consensus from executives that we have spoken to that network operators will begin restricting heavy data usage at peak times for people on basic flat-rate plans, or ask for more money from users who want guaranteed bandwidth.

But in a blog post, Sahel says the idea of networks charging content providers a fee to enable people to access their services via mobile is not on, making the point that the Internet “does not belong to anyone – it has grown thanks to more than 40,000 networks voluntarily interconnecting to form an open, decentralised network of networks. The operators making the complaints right now only carry the data for a small part of its journey around the web. The rest of the Internet ecosystem is based on a successful business model that does not and never had such subsidising of infrastructure companies by content providers. Should water companies be allowed to charge garden centres, pasta makers and coffee producers for encouraging demand for water consumption?”

Sahel also argues that charging online companies threatens the very innovation that will drive people and businesses to start using the Internet on their mobile device. He writes:

“In Europe and across the world there are teams of software developers creating apps and services that will drive demand for data plans sold by operators. These are not get-rich-quick-teenagers making millions of dollars every day. They are hard working small and mid-sized companies that are fighting for survival in a tough environment.

“Alongside these heroes of the (mobile) Internet are thousands upon thousands of companies, big and small, who rely on the Internet to distribute their goods and services. It is an affront to ask all these engines of economic growth to pay a fee to large multinational telecommunication companies.”
It was clear from Mobile World Congress that operators would have to address the issue of heavy data usage among their subscribers. But if they are hoping to get money out of big web players like Skype, Facebook and Google to invest in increasing the capacity of their networks, then if Sahel’s comments are any sort of guide, they’re going to have a fight on their hands.

You can read the full post here.