Tag: isp
Netflix Fights Attempt To Make Streaming Firms Pay For ISP Network Upgrades
Peters cited Nielsen data showing that “Netflix accounts for under 10 percent of total TV time” in the US and UK while “traditional local broadcasters account for over half of all TV time.” Live sports account for much of that. “As broadcasters continue the shift away from linear to streaming, they will start to generate significant amounts of Internet traffic too — even more than streamers today based on the current scope and scale of their audiences,” Peters said. “Broadband customers, who drive this increased usage, already pay for the development of the network through their subscription fees. Requiring entertainment companies — both streamers and broadcasters — to pay more on top would mean ISPs effectively charging twice for the same infrastructure.” Telcos that receive new payments wouldn’t be expected to lower the prices charged to home Internet users, Peters said. “As the consumer group BEUC has pointed out, there is no suggestion these levies would be passed onto consumers in the form of ‘lower prices or better infrastructure,'” he said.
Peters said Netflix’s “operating margins are significantly lower than either British Telecom or Deutsche Telekom. So we could just as easily argue that network operators should compensate entertainment companies for the cost of our content — exactly as happened under the old pay-TV model.” While telcos claim companies like Netflix don’t pay their “fair share,” Peters pointed out that Netflix has spent a lot building its own network that reduces the amount of data sent over traditional telecom networks. “We’ve spent over $1 billion on Open Connect, our own content delivery network, which we offer for free to ISPs,” he said. “This includes 18,000 servers with Netflix content distributed across 6,000 locations and 175 countries. So when our members press play, instead of the film or TV show being streamed from halfway around the world, it’s streamed from around the corner — increasing efficiency for operators while also ensuring a high-quality, no-lag experience for consumers.” Peters also touted Netflix’s encoding technology that cut bit rates in half between 2015 and 2020. While Internet traffic has increased about 30 percent a year, “ISPs have managed this increased consumer usage efficiently while their costs have remained stable,” Peters said. “Regulators have highlighted this, too, calling out that infrastructure costs are not sensitive to traffic and that growing consumption will be offset by efficiency gains.”
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Wireless ISP Starry Is Filing For Bankruptcy
The company also defaulted on its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund bids after it won awards from the FCC to work on providing internet to underserved areas in the US. Had it completed the work, it stood to receive almost $269 million, according to Light Reading. Starry has asked the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to approve a plan that would give it $43 million in funding from lenders, which it says would provide “the necessary liquidity to continue its normal business operations and meet its post-filing obligations to its employees, customers and vendors.” “With the support of our lenders, we feel confident in our ability to successfully exit this process as a stronger company, well-positioned to continue” providing internet to customers, said Starry CEO Chet Kanojia in the company’s press release.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Comcast becomes the latest ISP caught providing false coverage data to the FCC
Last week, a small-town broadband provider admitted to lying to the FCC about its coverage map specifically to prevent a competitor from getting a government grant to upgrade its service to the area. But it’s not just small providers lying to the Commission. This week, Comcast was caught submitting false…
Ohio ISP admits lying to FCC about its fiber service area to squash rival expansion grants
Ohio ISP Jefferson County Cable (JCC) accidentally snitched itself out to the Federal Communications Commission recently for claiming coverage in an area it did not service. It started when Ryan Grewell, general manager for local rival provider Smart Way Communications, got calls from some of his customers saying that an…