Verizon takes more heat from Netflix

Netflix is appealing to the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate paid prioritization of Internet traffic. In a 28-page filing submitted this week, the on-demand video provider argues that the FCC’s current stance on net neutrality is at odds with the concept of an open Internet.
The filing, which comes near the end of the agency’s comment period on its proposed net neutrality rules, also argues that Internet service providers should invest more heavily in infrastructure to ensure that companies like Netflix can offer a good user experience.
“When an ISP like Verizon fails to upgrade interconnection points to its network, Netflix data enters the network at a drip-like pace, and consumers get a degraded experience despite already paying Verizon for more than enough bandwidth to enjoy high-quality online video services,” Netflix wrote in its filing. “There can be no doubt that Verizon owns and controls the interconnections that mediate how fast Netflix servers respond to a Verizon Internet access consumer’s request.”
Indeed, Verizon did recently invest in content delivery network Edgecast, giving it more control over the edge of the network. Edgecast says the egress capacity of its network has doubled during the seven months since the acquisition, suggesting the Verizon has not turned its back on network upgrades.
Still, some Verizon subscribers have experienced buffering or stalling when watching Netflix videos, and this is one reason that Netflix has targeted Verizon.
Verizon and other Internet service providers are interested in letting content providers pay for faster delivery. The FCC’s current proposal supports this idea. Netflix says this is a slippery slope.
“By endorsing the concept of paid prioritization, as well as ambiguous enforcement standards and processes, the commission’s proposed rules arguably turn the objective of Internet openness on its head — allowing the Internet to look more like a closed platform, such as a cable television service, rather than an open and innovative platform driven by consumers and the virtuous circle,” said Netflix.
For companies that have invested billions in wired and wireless infrastructure, the question is whether that “open and innovative platform driven by consumers” creates a sustainable business model. Right now some see service providers “subsidizing” video by delivering it for prices that do not reflect the amount of bandwidth video can consumer.
“Video over the Internet is already taking a disproportionate share of high performance bandwidth for a tiny price. So charging more for priority delivery by bulk Video Content Originators could actually bring us closer to fairness,” said analyst Sue Rudd of Strategy Analytics. “Paid prioritization is likely to bring about the right capacity for the right services without the ‘implicit subsidy’ that video traffic gets today.”
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