Topic: [NEWS] Netflix admits to delivering lower quality video to Customers (Read 260 times)

For those of you who have been following the news, you’re likely familiar with the heated discussion surrounding T-Mobile's Binge On program, which came under scrutiny for the way it downgrades the video quality on streaming services such as Netflix in order to save bandwidth. AT&T and Verizon became new targets for such criticism last week.

While T-Mobile has since repaired some of the commotion it created, with new partnerships and a revised policy, AT&T and Verizon are still under fire for downgrading Netflix video quality.

However, mobile carriers may not always be the ones to blame, as Netflix told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that it has been lowering the quality of its streaming videos for more than five years now. They said that this happens across a number of wireless carriers across the globe, including AT&T and Verizon.

The company explained that it imposes a cap of 600 kilobits -- or around 75 kilobytes -- per second on its streams because it doesn’t want its customers to end up with inflated bills, which “may discourage future viewing”. The problem is that the company has only now disclosed this practice, and data caps like these are not easy to justify in the context of ubiquitous access to much faster wireless networks. WSJ received statements from both Verizon and AT&T, and they’re not pretty:


Netflix offered an example of how watching just two hours of HD video on its service would eat some six gigabytes of data, which is the maximum allowed on a $80 Verizon plan. However, the company also said that it doesn’t apply the same cap on T-Mobile and Sprint, which have a “consumer-friendly policy” of slowing the speed instead of charging additional overage fees.

It’s important to note that this news has the potential to damage the image that Netflix has been creating for itself over the years, which is one of a championing supporter of net neutrality.

Oh boy Netflix. Just do what other streaming services do - let users pick the quality of streams - like a low/medium/HD option.
Rippleman Mar 25 2016, 4:16am

they do...
lkernan Mar 25 2016, 8:08am

@rippleman The whole point of the story is that the lock it onto low.
naxal Mar 25 2016, 6:52pm

Good, even the web content providers are too unhappy with carriers !!

These carriers, always manipulating books and shouting loses !! They have made this unlimited word a joke..
farmeunit Mar 25 2016, 2:20am

The carriers are still to blame.  Mainly for having ridiculously small caps.  That's the only reason I moved to Sprint.  I travel so much, I am always streaming.  Typically 8-10GB a month.  Sometimes a little more.

 

The problem with letting users pick, is that most of them don't know what the hell they are doing.  There should be some type of opt-in/out for this.

 
Edited by farmeunit, Mar 25 2016, 2:22am :
+warwagon Mar 25 2016, 2:31am

ya, half the people, when I ask what their data cap is, have no idea what i'm talking about. Then I rephrased it asking how much data they get per month. They still have no idea what i'm talking about.
SpeedyTheSnail Mar 25 2016, 2:04am

Good thing I have WiFi nearly everywhere I go!
Figure 8 Dash Mar 25 2016, 2:16am

Wanna be mad at Netflix but it's kind of hard to because they made a logical response to unreasonable data caps. I understand that cell towers have finite capacity, so data caps play a role in keeping towers from being overloaded. But data limits of 1GB? 2GB?

G-T-F-O!!!!

That's greed. Netflix is just trying to exist within that greed and retain users. The real blame is of course with the carriers... and partially with the FCC. I think the FCC is too easily left off the hook. Remember, the FCC licenses the spectrum to the carriers. With Verizon and AT&T having such a fierce monopoly on certain bands, they're not forced to compete on service. So instead we get uncompetitive data caps and high prices.

How nice it would be if carriers didn't have a monopoly on spectrum. If the phone you bought could be used on any carrier without fear of being locked in. Where carriers had to compete on service and not spectrum. How nice it would be...
+warwagon Mar 25 2016, 3:50am

I can't ever imagine watching Netflix over my Cellular Data.
greenwizard88 Mar 25 2016, 3:26am

I fail to see how this will harm Netflix's image. The complaints were about Comcast et al artificially slowing Netflix on wired connections.

This, this is Netflix being responsible for people who have no need for 100kb/second video streams on 5" screens.

CJ33 Mar 25 2016, 3:17am

AT&T's response is full of irony
macmax Mar 25 2016, 3:09am

Why not show - You will be using X/Y/Z MB of data for watching the stream on Low/Medium/High.

This helps the user choose depending on their current usage and monthly cap.
+T3X4S Mar 25 2016, 4:31am

I must be weird - there is nothing on netflix I want to see so bad that I cant wait till I get infront of a large tv
Watching a movie on an 8" screen ?  why ?
Hellcat_M Mar 25 2016, 4:48am

"“We’re outraged to learn that Netflix is apparently throttling video for their AT&T customers without their knowledge or consent.”"

Let me try and rephrase to tell you what AT&T really wanted to say "FU*( you AT&T for cutting into our profits. We're going to make it sound like its on you, when its actually on our greed"
n_K Mar 25 2016, 9:19am

Where's all the people that commented on t-mobiles breach of net neutrality supporting it? Surely they should be here commenting how great it is to not bother with it, or have they worked out how daft ignoring net neutrality really is?
NPGMBR Mar 25 2016, 10:54am

I get 6g monthly with rollover on ATT. Granted I don't watch much video on my phone but when I do, I can easily and quickly eat up just 1g streaming video on my 30 minute trip home.