Netflix pushes to abolish monthly download limits
Data caps should be declared illegal and every home granted unlimited downloads to cope with the demands of streaming video, according to Netflix.
Home download limits don't serve a "legitimate purpose" and are an "ineffective" tool for managing network congestion, argues the streaming video giant in a submission to the US communications watchdog.
"A data cap or allotment of 300 GB of data per month or higher is required just to meet the Internet television needs of an average American," Netflix argues in a submission to the Federal Communications Commission. "This does not account for the other things that consumers typically do with their broadband connections, such as web browsing or downloading games or apps from the Internet."
"An above average television watcher, a multi-occupant household, or a consumer wishing to watch in 4K requires a much higher cap or allotment. In this way, today's 'above average' Internet consumer is tomorrow's average Internet consumer."
Netflix is also pushing to ban "low" data caps on mobile connections in the US which impede people's ability to watch streaming video on the run.
The obvious self-interest aside, Netflix's talk of abolishing monthly caps seems laughable in Australia considering that we've been plagued by measly download limits from the very beginning of consumer broadband – particularly at the hands of Telstra – while most Americans have enjoyed unlimited downloads from day one.
It's a very different story on in the US – there was an outcry back in 2008 when Comcast introduced 250 GB per month download limits for US home users, at a time when most Australians were forced to make do with a fraction of that but most Americans enjoyed unlimited downloads.
These days many Australian Internet Service Providers are offering cheap 1TB and unlimited plans, but only due to the fierce competition to win over customers before the NBN reaches them. ISPs are playing a high stakes game of musical chairs, knowing that when the NBN reaches your door and the music stops you'll probably stick with your existing provider. Once you get off DSL, expect to pay more in order to stay on the same deal via the NBN.
Over in the US the FCC isn't just looking at download limits, it's also focusing on performance. Last year it changed its definition of home broadband, upping its minimum speeds from 4/1 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps.
Such a change in Australia would mean that every home ADSL2+ connection was no longer considered fit for purpose – yet we're stuck with DSL for a while yet. There are no speed guarantees for end users on the NBN, so it remains to be seen what some fibre to the node customers will get stuck with.
There's already a push for the FCC to raise its broadband definition to 100 Mbps, yet our regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is only just starting to ask why ISPs haven't been able to deliver on their promised speeds for the past few decades.
The ACCC has finally noticed that some homes are stuck on sub 5-Mbps DSL when they've been promised more, and that cable broadband grinds to a halt every day because it can't handle the load. Considering that the ACCC still seems genuinely surprised when the price of petrol goes up before a long weekend, I wouldn't get your hopes up.
Rather than abolishing download limits and enforcing network performance standards, it seems the most we can hope for in Australia is unmetered deals for streaming video services, like Optus' new deal for Netflix and Presto.
Netflix prefers not to strike Netflix-specific unmetered deals, because it clashes with the ideals of net neutrality. It copped a lot of flak in the US when it struck its first Australian unmetered deals, but only from people who didn't understand how different the Australian broadband landscape is compared to the US. Unmetered deals are the only way to create a roughly level playing field.
It's far from neutral when Australian telcos grant you a measly download limit yet make their own video services unlimited – ensuring you don't have the data allowance to shop elsewhere.
Are you still stuck on ADSL or has the NBN finally arrived in your street? Do you have the speed and download allowance to meet your needs, can take you take advantage of unmetered deals?
