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Because Comcast does not incur cost per-bit, they incur cost based on the maximum required capacity of their network. Netflix significantly increases those cost

by exelius 13y ago

Because Comcast does not incur cost per-bit, they incur cost based on the maximum required capacity of their network. Netflix significantly increases those costs on a per-customer basis.

pdonis 13y ago
No, customers who want to watch Netflix increase those costs. Which really means, customers who want HD video streaming bandwidth increase those costs. To which the right answer is, build more bandwidth and charge the customers for it. Customers who want to watch Netflix, or any other HD video streaming service, can pay Comcast for "HD streaming" bandwidth; customers who don't can pay for the bandwidth they need. None of this should have anything to do with Netflix. I understand that Comcast doesn't like this because it makes them a simple seller of bandwidth instead of a "provider of premium services", or whatever marketing mantra they're using this week. But if customers do not want their "premium services", but just want bandwidth, the solution to that is to build better premium services, not to try to get paid twice for one stream of bits.
nitrogen 13y ago
Customers already pay Comcast to deal with that problem.
mikeash 13y ago
No, Comcast customers who use Netflix significantly increase those costs. It's not Netflix's doing. If the usage pattern of Comcast's users is changing such that Comcast's internet offerings are no longer bringing in enough revenue to support usage, that's a problem with the offerings. They need to charge more, or charge differently. However they change it (if indeed they need to change it, and it's not just a money grab, which seems more likely) then they need to charge based on how their users use the service, not what specifically they're using it for. If peak usage is a problem then charge more for peak usage, but there's no reason that A should pay more for the same peak usage as B just because A's peak usage involves Netflix.

by exelius 13y ago

Because Comcast does not incur cost per-bit, they incur cost based on the maximum required capacity of their network. Netflix significantly increases those costs on a per-customer basis.

pdonis 13y ago

No, customers who want to watch Netflix increase those costs. Which really means, customers who want HD video streaming bandwidth increase those costs. To which the right answer is, build more bandwidth and charge the customers for it. Customers who want to watch Netflix, or any other HD video streaming service, can pay Comcast for "HD streaming" bandwidth; customers who don't can pay for the bandwidth they need. None of this should have anything to do with Netflix. I understand that Comcast doesn't like this because it makes them a simple seller of bandwidth instead of a "provider of premium services", or whatever marketing mantra they're using this week. But if customers do not want their "premium services", but just want bandwidth, the solution to that is to build better premium services, not to try to get paid twice for one stream of bits.

nitrogen 13y ago

Customers already pay Comcast to deal with that problem.

mikeash 13y ago

No, Comcast customers who use Netflix significantly increase those costs. It's not Netflix's doing. If the usage pattern of Comcast's users is changing such that Comcast's internet offerings are no longer bringing in enough revenue to support usage, that's a problem with the offerings. They need to charge more, or charge differently. However they change it (if indeed they need to change it, and it's not just a money grab, which seems more likely) then they need to charge based on how their users use the service, not what specifically they're using it for. If peak usage is a problem then charge more for peak usage, but there's no reason that A should pay more for the same peak usage as B just because A's peak usage involves Netflix.