Should Big Tech Pay to Use the Network? Topic Coming Up at EEC 2025

A tougher course towards tech giants is emerging in Europe. According to Małgorzata Zakrzewska, this is an opportunity to return to the topic of fair share. - Business models that, based on the use of infrastructure built in Poland, generate profits that then do not translate into the development, security and maintenance of this infrastructure - the chief corporate affairs officer at Play tells WNP.PL.

• Donald Trump's term may create a window in Europe for talks on the division of costs of developing the telecommunications market. This is about the so-called fair share - assesses Małgorzata Zakrzewska CCAO at Play.
• The manager also tells WNP.PL about the company’s plans in the context of investing in cloud infrastructure.
• Zakrzewska talks about her participation in the MFA disinformation council. "From the very beginning of infrastructure development, we have encountered organized initiatives aimed at inciting communities against investments. We have a wealth of experience that we can share," she says.
• Małgorzata Zakrzewska will be a speaker at the "Digital Map for Poland" panel, which will be organized on April 23 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the European Economic Congress in Katowice (EEC 2025) .

Two resets in transatlantic relations. Does the telecoms sector see it more as a threat to itself or as an opportunity?

- Changes in the international situation do not immediately affect our business model. However, they do have some indirect impact on us - for example, because we order a lot of network infrastructure, we have to take into account currency fluctuations. The geopolitical thread and the potential conflict between the US and the Far East countries may in turn affect supply chains .

In Europe itself, however, this change is causing a tougher course towards the technology giants. Against this background, the so-called fair share thread is more strongly resonant. This is a discussion that should take place in order to normalize certain business relations.

Meaning?

- The idea is to take a fresh look at the conditions for the development of the telecommunications market and the unquestionable need for constant multi-billion investments in telecommunications infrastructure. The natural business model is to monetize infrastructure investments, which in many cases unfortunately does not happen and results from the dominant position of large players in the digital ecosystem.

These are business models that , based on the use of infrastructure built in Poland, generate profits that then do not translate into the development , security and maintenance of this infrastructure.

Apart from transatlantic relations, deregulation is also an important topic in Europe. What demands can we expect from the telco sector?

- I think that the state should first and foremost consider how it sees the further development of the telecommunications market. And whether its goal should be fiscal or developmental.

What do you mean?

- The state imposes high costs on the sector, for example through frequency auctions, which are a kind of license to conduct business. In the last auction, Play auctioned two blocks for PLN 726 million, which is objectively - despite a significant reduction in the starting price - very high amounts. Similarly, the cost of extending the frequency reservation is high, not to mention infrastructure investments, which in the case of our company absorb over 20 percent of revenue.

At the same time, we are being restricted by regulatory policy in terms of raising service prices, despite the increase in business costs, which means that the market growth potential is quite small. It is worth mentioning that the telecommunications market in Poland is one of the most competitive in Europe, so the risk of a significant increase in service prices is practically non-existent.

Play achieved record financial results last year.

- Yes, but we also made large investments that had to be earned. In total, last year our investment outlays for network development exceeded PLN 1.3 billion. This confirms that we are aware of how important telecommunications infrastructure is for the functioning of the state. Meanwhile, I have the impression that sometimes this awareness of the role of operators in the state system is simply lacking.

Please note that when we face crisis situations, such as a pandemic, it turns out that telecommunications networks are responsible for handling data transmission, which can increase by up to 50 percent in a single day. It was similar during the flood - communication turned out to be crucial because it allowed the emergency services to operate.

That is why I believe that we should approach the generation of further obligations towards us rationally, keeping in mind the higher goal of universal, reliable and secure communication.

So what would you expect?

- Let's take the first example that comes to mind: e-deliveries are developing in the public sector. However, in telecommunications, in many situations we are still required to communicate with the customer on paper. We would simply like simplification.

Simplifications would be especially useful in the context of the investment process – both in the construction of mobile and fixed networks. An example from a recently concluded auction showed that reservation decisions put us between a rock and a hard place. They contain investment commitments and deadlines by which we must complete investments, but complicated and excessive regulations make it significantly more difficult to meet these commitments. Similarly, in the case of the expansion of fixed networks; the number of decisions, consents, permits and fees is overwhelming and holds back investments.

How do you see the development of the telecommunications sector in the coming years?

- The entire economic and social ecosystem is increasingly based on digital services. I therefore expect that the importance of mobile telephony services, fixed and mobile internet access, which we provide to both individual and business customers, will grow. The foundation for the development of this market will remain infrastructure investments and innovative offers that respond to the growing needs of users.

Does Play plan to further develop cloud services?

- Yes, it is a promising market in which we already play a visible role within the Play Business Solutions segment. In this area, we use both our own experience and the support of the iliad Group, of which we are a part. It is one of the European champions, which understood several years ago how important cloud solutions and AI would be for companies and the economy. Today, the group is focusing on building a European ecosystem of cloud services and infrastructure. Polish companies will benefit from this, which we will discuss at EEC 2025 .

Will the company be affected in any way by US semiconductor limits?

- Even with the possibilities within the imposed limits that it currently has, Poland does not reach the semiconductor limit, so it will not directly affect our activities. We discussed this topic and the possible implications of this decision within the Council for Digitalization. In my opinion, this is more of an image issue, due to the general surprise that Poland found itself among the "second row" countries.

While we're on the subject of councils, you're also a member of the recently established disinformation council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I wanted to ask what the role of telecommunications operators is in combating disinformation?

- The topic of disinformation is very well known in the sector, unfortunately we have many years of experience with these actions. They were taken against operators, among other things, to block the development of infrastructure. In this context, disinformation is a way of stirring up social unrest.

Are you talking about the anti-5G movement?

- Among other things, because we observed such movements long before 5G. From the very beginning of infrastructure development, we encountered organized initiatives aimed at inciting communities against investments, based on various myths.

This is a very destabilizing action and causes delays in infrastructure development, which is clearly in someone's interest. However, it is certainly not in Poland's interest.

Because we have extensive experience, we can share it with other entities and cooperate in finding solutions to prevent this type of activity.

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