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Meta is ending its peering relationship with Deutsche Telekom, accusing the German incumbent of “putting the open internet at risk”
According to two statements published this week, a dispute between Meta and Deutsche Telekom over peering charges has reached an impasse, with Meta saying it will now route traffic through third-parties rather than directly with the German operator.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, accuses Deutsche Telekom of threatening net neutrality by imposing “unacceptable fees” for direct peering services. Meta argues that thousands of telecom providers worldwide maintain “settlement-free” peering relationships, where data transfers between both parties are free. After months of unsuccessful negotiations and a court ruling in Deutsche Telekom’s favor, Meta has chosen to reroute its data traffic via third-party providers, to avoid paying these fees.
“Following months of discussion, we are surprised and disappointed by the breakdown in negotiations with Deutsche Telekom. Meta has taken significant steps to keep its apps available directly through Deutsche Telekom, but given the court ruling concerning the unprecedented and unacceptable fees demanded, we are now routing our network traffic through a third-party transit provider, instead of exchanging traffic directly with Deutsche Telekom,” said Meta’s statement.
Deutsche Telekom, however, claims that Meta has “twisted the facts”. According to them, Meta was previously paying for direct data connections but stopped during the pandemic. After taking the matter to court and winning, Deutsche Telekom accuses Meta of dodging legal obligations by redirecting traffic through other networks to avoid paying.
Meta frames this issue as a threat to net neutrality — the idea that all internet traffic should be treated equally without preferential treatment. They argue that allowing telecom providers like Deutsche Telekom to charge for direct connections could set a dangerous precedent, potentially restricting user access to certain services.
Deutsche Telekom counters that Meta is exploiting its market power to avoid paying its fair share. They argue that this is not just a corporate dispute, but a broader debate about fairness and how the internet operates, especially in balancing the power of large tech companies and telecom providers.
Deutsche Telekom’s initial press release also included a slew of unrelated accusations that tried to demonstrate that Meta’s actions “follow a pattern” of exploiting their dominant market position. These include:
“- Meta is trying to avoid taxes in Europe
– Meta disregards European data protection (see WhatsApp)
– Meta is trying to force its users into payment models in violation of consumer protection laws
– Meta lies to the public about hate speech
– Meta gave data to Cambridge Analytica and thus indirectly influenced elections”
These accusations have since been deleted from the statement.
Both companies have reassured German customers that their access to Meta services will not be affected.
Meta said it is “hopeful that a future agreement can be reached so that Deutsche Telekom subscribers can continue to access our apps in the way they rightly expect.”
More widely, this dispute highlights the broader tensions between major tech firms and telecom providers, as both sides wrestle over how to fairly share the cost of maintaining the digital infrastructure that powers the internet.
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