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'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.
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.
Aw, it's adorable that you actually believe that, where do you get your rose-colored glasses? Do they actually help?
FTC will have to handle bad throttling practices by mega corps of Comcast and ATT.
This is some clever misdirection on the part of Trump's FCC Butt-buddy Ajit Pai. The FTC has nowhere near the regulatory power to reign in the ISPs that the FCC has, and they cannot achieve anything close to the common-carrier status that the Obama-era regulations guaranteed.
To stretch an analogy to near breaking point: when ISPs once again choose to break the Internet's legs with traffic mangling, slow-lanes, site-blocking, etc. like some of them did before the Obama administration stepped in, then the FTC may (I stress *may*, because remember, the FTC too is beholden to Herr Trump) try to do the most that they can: apply a bandage. The problem is we'll need a cast, not a bandage, and only the FCC can provide that.
We're screwed, pure and simple -- even though we all want to believe we aren't, and will desperately cling to any suggestion things might not be as bad as they seem, just like an abused spouse suckered into sticking with her violent husband because he turns on the waterworks when she threatens to leave ... until the next beating. Which is about what our relationship with the Trump administration has become.
Despite almost every person in the world now having a common benefit for accessing a world-wide open information network - greed always find a way to add in barrier and costs wherever it can.
Meanwhile here in Norway:
Mean download: 94.0 Mbps (+58.0% YoY)
Median download: 45.8 Mbps (+45.4% YoY)
Broadband (>128 kbps): 85.3% of households
Over 40% fiber and climbing fast
And we are more sparsely populated with way smaller cities than the US. The generation growing up now won't know what bandwidth scarcity is, everybody can watch their own UHD Netflix stream...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Any ISP that does not deliver Netflix well will continue to blame it on Netflix
Netflix viewers will not care what anyone says, what they will DO is take whatever action they need to improve Netflix access - including greater use of wireless, or even moving.
Yes Netflix is now that much a force.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Fine. Let small companies either pay for their bandwidth or stop using so much. Let their investors raise more money or go out of business. If I as a consumer wish to have their content, I can choose to pay for it. What I DO NOT want is a socialist system which FORCES ME to pay for their business model.
That which is free is wasted. Should be taught in 3rd grade or at least econ 101.