AT&T Calls Netflix's Request for Equitable Peering 'Arrogant'
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AT&T has been after fees to carry traffic in to their subs for years. This is an area that is probably going to have to be regulated eventually. It is a serious antitrust issue if there is only one or 2 ways to receive the internet.
How expected. Here is the thing. The Internet companies charge us a lot of money for higher speed Internet access. There is no need to have 20 Mbps unless you stream a bunch, and a few streams at the same time (even higher throughput can only be justified through pirating media). We, the consumer are already paying for this bandwidth. To then have the extra bandwidth, which we are paying extra for, to be throttled back because it is streaming competitive media is pretty close to, if not, fraud!
That is communism man. The second you protect the interests of a consumer, you become a commie!
How expected. Here is the thing. The Internet companies charge us a lot of money for higher speed Internet access. There is no need to have 20 Mbps unless you stream a bunch, and a few streams at the same time (even higher throughput can only be justified through pirating media). We, the consumer are already paying for this bandwidth. To then have the extra bandwidth, which we are paying extra for, to be throttled back because it is streaming competitive media is pretty close to, if not, fraud!
That is communism man. The second you protect the interests of a consumer, you become a commie!
Exactly, we as consumers paying for the high speed connections have already been picked clean by the ISP, now they need more money to drive their quarterly earnings, so why not collect a second time on the data we as consumers already requested and paid for....
I think Netflix viewing is why ATT is cracking down & sending letters & emails that users have exceeded their 150GB cap.
There has never been a fee or surcharge that AT&T has not liked. One would think that having Netflix come in at the highest possible data rate would be good for AT&T since they could charge more overages...
They said that they will charge $10.00 per 50GB over the cap. They also just told me that I am at 90% of my cap. This all has be be because of their hissy fit with Netflix. Also,this no doubt also started when the net neutrality rule was overturned.
You can look back a long time ago to see posts from many of us predicting this. The internet carriers are going to say it isn't how much gets used, so much as how much at one time. I am 100% behind net neutrality, but it is true with all the streaming devices now and programming available, it isn't a stretch to say things are going to get clogged up/slowed down if more people use it. Worse, if they use it with no regard to keeping a connection of streaming even if they aren't watching at the moment.
The problem with net Neutrality is should it get passed, nothing then prohibits overall costs for everyone to go up dramatically to make up for the money the carriers think they should be getting from the ones who really use alot. Another way of saying all that is we are going to pay more one way or the other if streaming continues to grow.
The problem with net Neutrality is should it get passed, nothing then prohibits overall costs for everyone to go up dramatically to make up for the money the carriers think they should be getting from the ones who really use alot. Another way of saying all that is we are going to pay more one way or the other if streaming continues to grow.
Net neutrality has nothing to do with tiered pricing on plans. I loathe the day that ISPs will introduce such changes since it is a big step backwards for consumers, but net neutrality will not prevent this. I pay Comcast a nice chunk of money each month for something like 20 down/8 up (the exact figures escape me, but that's the ballpark) and I believe there is some theoretical cap that I am not aware of because it is not enforced. I am paying for that connection, so what I choose to use it for should be irrelevant whether it is streaming music, video, web browsing, etc. Comcast should not have the right to say: "oh, you're using netflix, sorry we're going to artificially slow down your connection for that because we can." What they can do is enforce the cap and charge me more for going over it. But then, I reserve the right to drop their service.
It has to be that ATT is singling out Netflix usage as they don't seem to care about my Hulu or Amazon Video usage.
Pretty soon we'll be charged for the very air we breathe.......per breath(not by ATT,just the natural progression of things). But that's a discussion for another time on another thread,like in the Pit.
roy,do you have a way to monitor your b/width usage?I wouldn't trust ATT's word for nothing.They implemented a cap here 3 or 4 years ago,never could get the data monitor system to work correctly,so they basically said don't worry about it.Many newer routers have pretty decent b/width usage monitors.There are also a couple of free ones on the net.
riff,does ATT employ you?You got stock with them?Better yet do you have home service with them?
The reason I call them commies has nothing to do with netflix.My beef is due to excessive fees,the worst customer service in the US,and good luck trying to get a repair done.From the time ATT bought bellsouth here,we had nothing but trouble with ATT.Furthermore,you better watch them like hawks,they will raise rates without any notification,bill you for something you don't have,lose your account,I could go on and on.
riff,does ATT employ you?You got stock with them?Better yet do you have home service with them?
The reason I call them commies has nothing to do with netflix.My beef is due to excessive fees,the worst customer service in the US,and good luck trying to get a repair done.From the time ATT bought bellsouth here,we had nothing but trouble with ATT.Furthermore,you better watch them like hawks,they will raise rates without any notification,bill you for something you don't have,lose your account,I could go on and on.
Riff, one minor nitpick. If it wasn't for the online services, we wouldn't need to pay for the bandwidth. We'd all be happy with 2 or 3 Mbps. Besides, The bandwidth is available. They over built the system a decade ago.
I'll have to check my router. I've never had problems with ATT before,never been over billed. It's just within these past two months that I seem to have problems. OK,I just set up a traffic meter on my router.
If there was real competition in broadband, I would think that government regulations would not be needed. But, when most of the US has the choice between 2 companies, it is not a free market. AT&T knows it has a lot of people hostage, especially in areas with limited cable and just DSL service.
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