When consumers, specifically from AT&T and Verizon, started complaining that their carriers were throttling their video streaming on Netflix, both were quick to deny that they were doing so. But now apparently, the one doing the throttling was Netflix itself in order to “protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps.” They also clarified that T-Mobile has not been included in this because it has “more consumer-friendly policies” that benefit its subscribers.
Netflix has admitted that for the past five years, they have been reducing the quality of the video being streamed to AT&T and Verizon customers to as low as 600 kilobits per second which is much slower compared to what wireless networks should be able to do. They say that this is to actually slow them down from going beyond their mobile data caps. If consumers believe that Netflix is eating up their mobile data then it will stop them from using the video-on-demand streaming service.
One of the reasons why they are not including T-Mobile in this throttling is because of the carrier’s policy for those who have exceeded their data caps. Instead of charging overage fees, the carrier instead just slows down their connection. And this is a good thing for Netflix because watching their video service will not result in extra charges for the consumers.
Probably anticipating that people will not be pleased with this news, Netflix also said they are looking into new ways for their users to have control in choosing their video quality. This May, they will be rolling out a data saver option to “stream more video under a smaller data plan, or increase their video quality if they have a higher data plan.” Let’s see if this will appease AT&T and Verizon, and the carriers themselves.
VIA: Wall Street Journal
