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Verizon's Mobile Video Won't Count Against Data Caps -- but Netflix Will (arstechnica.com)

Posted by timothy on from the what's-worth-what-to-whom dept.

Earthquake Retrofit writes: Ars Technica has a story about how Verizon Wireless is testing the limits of the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules; Verizon has announced that it will exempt its own video service from mobile data caps—while counting data from competitors such as YouTube and Netflix against customers' caps.

8 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Well, that's pretty much a textbook violation. by NotInfinitumLabs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's hope that the FCC shows that its net neutrality enforcement has teeth.

    1. Re:Well, that's pretty much a textbook violation. by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The FCC has been dragging their feet before ruling on Zero-Rating, so hopefully they will get this one right.

      If Verizon is allowed to abuse this as a loophole, others will follow, and sponsored content will reign.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

  2. Re:It's their network, they should be able to by guises · · Score: 1, Insightful

    That's a joke, right? You're pointing out the lack of competition between ISPs in the US? Yes. You are. Ha ha. Good joke.

  3. Re: No transit costs. by ByTor-2112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And it's about antitrust. Since the telcos have what us basically a government approved monopoly, they have to agree to certain rules that might seem weird in a free market. Such as net neutrality.

  4. Just a Few Thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doesn't this prove by example that there is no last mile scarcity on Verizon's wireless network? The reason for limits on wireless has always been this bottleneck, transit costs over fibre are small, if not free for a tier 1 provider. These costs are easily covered by a cellphone agreement. What is the IP transit cost for a 95% average line that does 2GB a month to Verizon $.05?

    With this move, Verizon is demonstrating that caps are unnecessary. With this evidence, one might even argue that caps are an arbitrary and capricious with the sole purpose of extorting money from customers and content providers.

    1. Re:Just a Few Thoughts by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Still, it's an indication that carriers and ISPs are not being completely honest. They basically keep claiming that they need special protections, they need the ability to throttle and limit service, and that services like Netflix can't perform because it's simply not possible to deliver the bandwidth people are demanding. They imply (I'm not sure they've said it outright) that it's not a problem of their unwillingness to upgrade their network, but that people's expectations are just out of whack-- that people using more than a few gigabytes per month are bad actors, using up all the bandwidth, and that there is not any possible way for them to fulfill the demands on their network.

      But now they're saying that everything is fine, so long as they can cut Netflix out of the market and take those profits for themselves. If they're allowed to have a monopoly, then suddenly all the technical problems go away.

  5. Re: No transit costs. by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The free market is a nice idea but fails at the entrance fee.

    If I have an established system, I can operate at much lower cost than someone who would have to establish the system first. If I already have a factory pumping out a product (which has redeemed its cost already by me being able to set the price due to having a de facto monopoly due to a lack of competitors), I can easily squish any and all competition that may arise by lowering the price to the point where it is not feasible for someone who still has to redeem his investment. By fixing the price at a level where he cannot redeem his costs, I can ensure the continuation of my de facto monopoly. This is crucial in markets where the initial cost of doing business is magnitudes higher than the operational cost. Like, say, ISPs.

    There are a few ways to crack open such a monopoly. But that first and foremost needs the will of the law makers to actually do something against it.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:No transit costs. by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Verizon has peering agreements to cover costs the wider Internet. Secondly, the ISPs have always argued that the last mile (in fiber or spectrum) is the bottleneck and why they need data caps. So it's amusing watching you try to flip the argument now that we see that Verizon has no real bandwidth bottleneck for its wireless service if it can zero-rate streaming as long as you pay the piper.