Verizon continues to call Netflix's bluff on buffering
The ongoing public spat between Netflix and broadband providers continues this week with one of the most vocal telco opponents issuing another rebuttal.
That would be Verizon, which has been at odds with the online video giant for months now -- a battle that served as one of the catalysts for the heated net neutrality debate.
David Young, vice president of Federal Regulatory Affairs at Verizon, penned a new memo on Thursday that essentially attempts to call Netflix's bluff once again on buffering rates.
Young rebuffed claims that Verizon was "throttling" Netflix traffic on its FiOS network. Netflix has been called out in numerous surveys in past months proving to be one of the largest single sources for bandwidth usage nationwide.
Young acknowledged there have been instances of congestion since Netflix and Verizon begrudgingly hatched a deal for prioritized traffic, much like what Netflix established with Comcast.
Without mincing words, Young further blamed poor performance rates unearthed through Verizon customer complaints on Netflix's methods for delivery.
Young wrote:
Instead, Netflix chose to attempt to deliver that traffic to Verizon through a few third-party transit providers with limited capacity over connections specifically to be used only for balanced traffic flows. Netflix knew better. Netflix is responsible for either using connections that can carry the volume of traffic it is sending, or working out arrangements with its suppliers so they can handle the volumes.
Nevertheless, in the end, the two will have to work together at some point. Young noted that the two tech companies are collaborating on new, direct pipelines from Netflix to Verizon’s network.
However, in light of the net neutrality discussion, Young assured that these connections do not "prioritize" Netflix traffic in any way.
Image via The Verizon Policy Blog