'Netflix and Alphabet Will Need To Become ISPs, Fast' (techcrunch.com)

Following the recent official repeal of net neutrality and approval of AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner, an anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via TechCrunch, written by Danny Crichton. Crichton discusses the options Alphabet, Netflix and other video streaming services have on how to respond: For Alphabet, that will likely mean a redoubling of its commitment to Google Fiber. That service has been trumpeted since its debut, but has faced cutbacks in recent years in order to scale back its original ambitions. That has meant that cities like Atlanta, which have held out for the promise of cheap and reliable gigabit bandwidth, have been left in something of a lurch. Ultimately, Alphabet's strategic advantage against Comcast, AT&T and other massive ISPs is going to rest on a sort of mutually assured destruction. If Comcast throttles YouTube, then Alphabet can propose launching in a critical (read: lucrative) Comcast market. Further investment in Fiber, Project Fi or perhaps a 5G-centered wireless strategy will be required to give it to the leverage to bring those negotiations to a better outcome.

For Netflix, it is going to have to get into the connectivity game one way or the other. Contracts with carriers like Comcast and AT&T are going to be more challenging to negotiate in light of today's ruling and the additional power they have over throttling. Netflix does have some must-see shows, which gives it a bit of leverage, but so do the ISPs. They are going to have to do an end-run around the distributors to give them similar leverage to what Alphabet has up its sleeve. One interesting dynamic I could see forthcoming would be Alphabet creating strategic partnerships with companies like Netflix, Twitch and others to negotiate as a collective against ISPs. While all these services are at some level competitors, they also face an existential threat from these new, vertically merged ISPs. That might be the best of all worlds given the shit sandwich we have all been handed this week.

Comments

Re: netflix and alphabet will be fine

[magzteel]

Um...they were totally NOT fine guy who apparently shills for the cable industry. How do you imagine this neutrality bill got passed to begin with? Multiple carriers were fined for throttling and Netflix paid an "undisclosed amount" to Comcast and their internet magically wasn't crippled anymore. Please go die in a lake of fire.

Google 2017 net income: $12+ billion
Netflix 2017 net income: $500 million

I'm pretty sure they will manage

Re: How is this a shit sandwich?

[BeauHD (5)]

He should be IMPEACHED over this. I suspect a Russian-Comcast tie. It may unfold in the weeks to come.

-=Beau=-

Re:We the consumers

[grep -v '.*' *]

under the impression that I already pay for high-speed internet access,

Ahhh yes, there's the fallacy again. You pay your ISP for high-speed access to their network, and then the bill also includes egress access to the general internet.

For normal ISPs, their network connects you to the outgoing peer that connects you to the actual internet. Those peons don't have enough resources invested to make you stay around their network, so you have to access elsewhere.

For great ISPs like Comast, Verizon, and the defunct AOL, your high-speed access is simply your window into to our glorious on-line world. Why on Earth would you want to go elsewhere. (No really, WHY? STOP it.) Our network contains glorious, copious amounts of never-ending entertainment that we tie back to your bill, and the best part is that it's free! At least to us that is; we've got all of the already servers sitting on our networks and pay for the content anyway, so the more we can makeXXXX ahem, let you stay within our network the better for us.

For that small eventuality when you need to access the general internet to, say, connect to your bank to pay our bill, we graciously provide an egress to the general overall internet where "everyone else" lives. But don't dally outside too long, because there's GREAT stuff already located on our network where we also store your bill, and after all, we have to pay for internet egress access, y'know? That stuff gets expensive. The text and few graphics your bank has? Fine. Audio, and then video streaming? To the outside world?? STOP it, that stuff's bothersome, our 1200 baud modem to the outside world gets really hot sometimes, y'know? Our 10G and experimental 100G blades interconnect just fine, but do you know how hard it is to FIND a modem now-a-days? US Robotics isn't making them anymore and eBay seems to have supply problems as well. So just say on OUR side of the network and everyone'll be much happier.

So in conclusion, connect to your ISP and just stay there. We might or might not bill your for bytes, but if you egress then WE'LL ALSO be billed for them. Friends don't make other friends incur extra costs. Just hang around our network and billing services, we'll all be much happier if you do. That's a nice internet you've got there, shame if something were to happen to it.

-- Your loving ISPs: Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink, CoX.