At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in a keynote address, Peters said that a tax on creative content would reduce investment, “hurting the creative community”.
His speech comes days after the European Commission called for regulation designed to create a cheaper and more effective roll-out of gigabit networks across the EU.
“Because this tax would have an adverse effect, reducing investment in content — hurting the creative community, hurting the attractiveness of higher-priced broadband packages, and ultimately hurting consumers,” Peters said.
“ISPs claim that these taxes would only apply to Netflix. But this will inevitably change over time as broadcasters shift from linear to streaming.”
Peters said that Netflix has invested over US$60 billion in content alone over the last five years – that, he says, is equivalent to roughly 50% of its total revenue.
He believes that the better approach would be for entertainment companies and operators to create a “rising tide that will lift all boats”.
For Netflix, that means continuing to invest in and improve the quality and variety of the content that it offers.
