By Gautham Nagesh
Federal regulators plan to get to the bottom of why consumers
aren't always able to watch Netflix and other streaming video
services over their home broadband connections.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced
Friday that the agency has begun an inquiry into the issue of
peering, which concerns how residential broadband providers such as
Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. interconnect with the
networks of content providers such as Netflix Inc. and Google Inc.
on the back end.
"To be clear, what we are doing right now is collecting
information, not regulating. We are looking under the hood.
Consumers want transparency. They want answers. And so do I," Mr.
Wheeler told reporters. "The bottom line is that consumers need to
understand what is occurring when the Internet service they've paid
for does not adequately deliver the content they desire, especially
content they've also paid for."
Netflix has feuded publicly with Verizon in recent weeks over
consumers' ability to stream high-definition movies and TV shows
such as "Orange Is the New Black." The dispute over who is to blame
for delays and choppy video delivery has continued even though
Netflix had struck paid peering deals with both Verizon and Comcast
earlier this year to deliver its traffic more efficiently.
The nation's largest broadband provider, Comcast, welcomed the
FCC's new peering probe. Comcast has previously argued that its
deal with Netflix proves the commercial market is capable of
settling peering disputes without regulatory intervention.
"We welcome this review, which will allow the commission full
transparency into the entire Internet backbone ecosystem and enable
full education as to how this market works," Comcast spokeswoman
Sena Fitzmaurice said. "We also agree that the broadband consumer
should be the focus of this inquiry and not any particularly
business model."
Said a Netflix spokesman: "We welcome the FCC's efforts to bring
more transparency in this area. Americans deserve to get the speed
and quality of Internet access they pay for."
Mr. Wheeler said many of the more than 19,000 comments the FCC
has received in response to its net-neutrality rules have concerned
the disputes between Netflix and Verizon/Comcast, and have asked
what the FCC can do to resolve the problem. Mr. Wheeler reiterated
that he considers net neutrality a separate issue from peering.
"I have experienced these problems myself. I know how
exasperating it can be. Consumers must get what they pay for," Mr.
Wheeler said.
A spokesman for the leading cable industry trade group expressed
support for the commission for looking into peering as a separate
issue from its net-neutrality rulemaking.
"We agree with Chairman Wheeler that Internet interconnection
and peering issues are not net-neutrality issues. We look forward
to assisting the Commission in better understanding this vibrant,
competitive marketplace," National Cable and Telecommunications
Association spokesman Brian Dietz said.
Meanwhile, Internet backbone operator Level 3 Communications
Inc. praised the commission's move to investigate what it called
"arbitrary tolls" on some networks' connections.
"We agree with the Chairman: Consumers pay their ISP for access
to the Internet at a specified speed, and they should get what they
pay for," said Mark Taylor, a Level 3 vice president. "That means
that those ISPs shouldn't intentionally degrade Internet traffic on
the last mile. Critically, it also means that ISPs must provide
their users with adequate interconnection capacity to the rest of
the Internet."
The FCC staff is currently obtaining information needed to
determine precisely what is causing the congestion between
broadband providers and content networks. Mr. Wheeler said the FCC
has already received the agreements between Netflix and
Comcast/Verizon, but he also plans to request them from other
broadband providers and content companies, such as YouTube.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) also welcomed
the announcement, arguing that the recent interconnection disputes
show that "net-neutrality rules alone may no longer be enough to
promote an open Internet."
"Shining more light on how content is delivered across the
backbone of the Internet is an important step in ensuring that
consumers receive the service they are paying for," Mr. Leahy
said.
Shalini Ramachandran
and Drew FitzGerald contributed to this article.
Write to Gautham Nagesh at gautham.nagesh@wsj.com
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