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Internet Fragmentation > Sender Pays

Sender Pays

What happens if operators charge big companies extra?

The Internet Way of Networking relies on a shared agreement that traffic should flow freely between networks. As a user, you pay your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and the services you use pay their costs. So, for one price, you get access to the entire network, apart from specific content or services that cost money. You can visit websites, connect with friends, network with peers, sign up for services, purchase things online, from anywhere in the world.

Why Does It Matter?

“Sender Pays” is one of the names for a series of policies and proposals that aim to establish fees around network usage and connections between networks. South Korea’s Digital New Deal does some of this, and there are similar EU policy proposals.

The argument is that some companies, especially social media and streaming services, use disproportionate data resources, and should pay more to the network operators.

On the surface, it might sound like a reasonable way to counteract market consolidation. In practice, it means that everyone providing services online needs a separate contract with every ISP their customers might use. This creates administrative and financial burdens that undermine their ability to operate globally.

For example, if you run a small business and use an email or cloud service, that service would need a contract with your ISP in order for you to use your email or store your files. That cost would most certainly be passed on to you. If the ISP and the service provider don’t negotiate, you might lose access to that service, or get slower, less reliable performance. This would undermine net neutrality, and turn the network of networks into a “network of contracts.” This would damage the Internet itself.

Our Position

We did an Internet Impact Brief for new interconnection rules under South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act. We’re concerned that the concept is gaining ground in the EU, under names like “Fair Share,” and spreading throughout the world. We believe a Sender Pays approach undermines the very foundation of the Internet Way of Networking.

Threat category:
Regulation of infrastructure

Fragmentation risk:
Mandated shared contribution

Affected region(s):
South Korea, European Union

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Learn More

Last updated:
5 July 2023

Our Position

We did an Internet Impact Brief for new interconnection rules under South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act. We’re concerned that the concept is gaining ground in the EU, under names like “Fair Share,” and spreading throughout the world. We believe a Sender Pays approach undermines the very foundation of the Internet Way of Networking.

Learn More

Last updated:
5 July 2023

How does Internet fragmentation affect you?

Read our explainer and learn about other policies and proposals that put the open Internet at risk.