Netflix Hoping For Free Network Access From ISPs

sabri writes: Netflix soared on Wall Street today after their earnings announcement. They also stated that they hope to get more free network access arrangements (aka "free peering"). Fortune reports: "Netflix hopes the Charter peering pledge could serve not only its own interests, but establish an industry-wide practice for internet TV. Hastings said he hopes free peering will spare the emerging industry from the sort of battles that continue to plague the cable TV industry industry, in which stations go dark whenever distributor and content owner haggle over a 'retransmission' price."

Comments

Re:Wouldn't apply to Netflix

[Anonymous Coward]

Free peering typically means that each carrier sends and receives about the same amount of data - they each benefit equally from the peering. How much data is inbound to Netflix? About 1/10000th what comes out.

That said, why isn't Netflix's traffic upload "paid for" when they pay their data centre ISP? or is that too perfect world?

So what? Netflix pays their ISP, who probably pays a Tier1-ISP for the transferred Data.

Netflix Customers pay Netflix (who pays thier ISP) and their own ISP for transferred Data.

ISP's who violate Net Neutrality basically want Netflix Customers (with "Flatrates") to shoulder those costs indirectly, by forcing Netflix to raise its prices via extortion ("Oh you want to reach your Customers with the Bandwidth those Customers paid for? Would be a shame if there was Congestion!"). Basically double dipping.

Who'd have guessed that customers want to use the allotted Bandwidth they paid for?

Re:Wouldn't apply to Netflix

[BradleyUffner]

and Netflix wants to NOT have to pay for upload bandwidth, even though they give nothing in return.

I've never understood what makes them so popular, really.

Netflix has always, and will always, pay for their own internet connection and bandwidth. What this is about is people in the middle without any direct customer relation to Netflix or the end user, wanting Netflix to pay them too.

Re:Wouldn't apply to Netflix

[Shatrat]

No, it really isn't. This is about Retail ISPs who also sell video (cable companies) wanting to limit access to Netflix for their customers without doing something obviously like rate limiting/filterering at the gateway router. The 'people in the middle' like Level3 and Cogent are bypassed completely when Netflix peers with an ISP, which saves both Netflix and the ISP money. Hint: I work for an ISP, we don't sell video, we peer with Netflix everywhere we are able as well as install their caching appliances in our offices to reduce our transit and backhaul costs.