Meta ends Direct Peering with Deutsche Telekom amid dispute over fees

Meta has announced it is ending its direct peering relationship with Deutsche Telekom following a recent German court ruling in a contractual dispute between the two companies. The decision comes after months of failed negotiations over peering arrangements.

According to Meta, Deutsche Telekom is demanding "unprecedented and unacceptable fees" for direct peering, which allows for the exchange of network traffic. Meta claims this puts the open internet at risk and undermines net neutrality principles by potentially restricting access to services that do not pay Deutsche Telekom.

"We are surprised and disappointed by the breakdown in negotiations with Deutsche Telekom," Meta stated in an announcement made two days ago. The company says it has taken steps to maintain availability of its apps, but will now route traffic through a third-party transit provider instead of exchanging directly with Deutsche Telekom's network.

Meta emphasized that it has settlement-free peering agreements with telecom providers worldwide, including in Germany, which allow high-quality access to its applications. The company invested over €27 billion globally in digital infrastructure in 2022, which it says reduces costs for telecom providers.

Deutsche Telekom defended its position, stating that Meta stopped making payments for direct connections during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Instead of accepting the ruling of an independent German court, Meta is now playing a gross foul," Deutsche Telekom said in a statement released on September 25th.

The German telecom giant claims it has expanded capacity with Meta's new transit provider to handle the large volume of data - approximately 3.5 terabytes per second. Deutsche Telekom asserts it is Meta's responsibility to route traffic without interference.

This dispute highlights tensions between content providers and telecom networks over who should bear infrastructure costs. The Body of European Electronic Communications Regulators (BEREC) has previously stated that peering is the fairest and most cost-effective arrangement.

Meta warns that Deutsche Telekom's practices set a "dangerous global precedent" that could impact consumers and businesses worldwide. The company expressed hope that a future agreement can be reached to restore direct peering.

This dispute is part of a broader debate in Europe about network usage fees. The European Commission is considering proposals that could fundamentally change how networks interconnect on the Internet. According to a blog post by Cloudflare, these proposals could have far-reaching consequences beyond just big tech companies and large European telcos. Cloudflare argues that fees would create fast lanes for Big Tech content and slow lanes for everything else, potentially harming European consumers and small businesses. They also warn that regulatory intervention in the market could lead to higher wholesale bandwidth prices, which would ultimately be passed on to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers.

Key facts

• Meta announced ending direct peering with Deutsche Telekom on September 25, 2024
• Decision follows a German court ruling in a contractual dispute between the companies
• Meta claims Deutsche Telekom is demanding unprecedented fees for direct peering
• Meta invested €27 billion in global digital infrastructure in 2022
• Deutsche Telekom states Meta stopped payments for direct connections during the pandemic
• Deutsche Telekom handles approximately 3.5 terabytes per second of Meta traffic