France Considers Charging Google for Network Capacity
This article is for subscribers only.
The French government will look into making Internet companies including Google Inc. pay for the burden they place on telecommunications networks, Technology Minister Fleur Pellerin said.
Web companies generate traffic without having to invest in the infrastructure that carries it, Pellerin said today after asking local Internet provider Iliad SA to stop blocking online advertisements from companies such as Google. Iliad has agreed to stop blocking online ads for its users, Pellerin said. The company, founded by French businessman Xavier Niel, had more than 5.2 million broadband subscribers at the end of September.