Netflix Said to Agree to Pay Comcast for Faster Web Access

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) has agreed to pay for more-direct access to Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s broadband network to improve speed and reliability for its video-streaming customers, according to three people familiar with the matter. The companies announced a multiyear agreement in a statement yesterday, without disclosing terms. Faced with complaints about quality and speed, Netflix agreed to pay Comcast millions of dollars annually to deliver its content more efficiently, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. Netflix, the world’s largest subscription video-streaming service, joins companies such as Google Inc. (GOOG) andFacebook Inc. (FB) that already pay Comcast for content-delivery network access. The agreement is a surprise because Netflix could have used the issue as leverage while Comcast attempts to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc., an industry researcher said. “I would have thought Netflix would have held out with the Time Warner Cable deal looming,” Craig Moffett, founder of research firm MoffettNathanson LLC, said in an interview. “Netflix can ask for whatever it wants and has a reasonable shot at getting conditions put on the merger that could provide it with long-term benefit. On the other hand, that could be precisely what spurred this deal -- that Comcast was willing to settle with Netflix for a relatively low price to make the Netflix problem go away ahead of the regulatory review.”

New Fees

The agreement is part of an effort by broadband providers to collect millions in new fees from content providers who increasingly are using the Web networks to deliver movies, sports and live programs to televisions, tablets and computers. “The deal confirms that if you’re a video company that wants to get your stuff from point A to point B through a broadband pipe, you have to pay a tariff,” Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said in an interview. Netflix traded at the equivalent of $433.02 at 9:39 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, 0.2 percent higher than the close in New York on Feb. 21. Netflix declines to comment beyond the statement, Jonathan Friedland, a spokesman for the Los Gatos, California-based company said. Charlie Douglas, a spokesman for Comcast, declined to comment. Philadelphia-based Comcast has more than 20 million broadband subscribers and providesInternet service to about 23 percent of all U.S. households. Netflix has more than 51 million customers worldwide. Because so much traffic occurs during prime-time viewing hours, some Netflix users reported seeing grainy or jittery video. By connecting Netflix content directly to Comcast’s network, the new delivery method removes a middle layer, speeding the video to the end-user.

Step Removed

Netflix previously connected to Comcast and other broadband providers by paying companies such as Cogent Communications Group Inc., much like a consumer would pay a service provider to access the Internet. The new connections to Comcast will take place in data centers called open Internet exchanges that are run by Equinix Inc. and other companies around the world, one of the people said. The agreement will deliver a better experience to customers “while also allowing for future growth in Netflix traffic,” the companies said in the statement. The talks, which included phone conversations between Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastingsand Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts, occurred over the last year and were essentially concluded before Comcast’s surprise $45.2 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable announced Feb. 13, one of the people said.

No Preference

Neither side may have gotten everything it wanted in part because of pending rules on so-called net neutrality. For example, Comcast declined to install Netflix content-caching servers called Open Connect in its own centers, one person said. The agreement is a private business relationship between Comcast and Netflix -- known as “peering” -- and doesn’t run afoul of so-called net neutrality, the people said. The Federal Communications Commission plans to write rules that will forbid content blocking and ensure Internet providers treat Web traffic equally, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said last week. Comcast, under terms of its deal to acquire NBCUniversal, signed a consent degree ending in 2018 in which it agreed not to give its own content preferential streaming treatment over other video providers. Netflix “receives no preferential network treatment” under the terms of the contract, according to the statement. The connections began late last week and will probably be completed in the next week for noticeable improvements to Comcast customers, one of the people said.

New Services

Netflix, which streamed more than 2 billion hours of content in January, plans to begin adding bandwidth-intensive ultra high-definition content later this year and needed to have the nation’s largest broadband provider on board. The company, helped by its public visibility and complaints about its video quality declining in consumer homes, negotiated lower rates than Facebook and Google because it incurs more bandwidth, the person said. While Netflix could pay other large broadband companies such as Verizon Communications (VZ)similar fees, it does not plan to begin paying Cox Communications Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and others who already use Open Connect, the person said. Source :  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-23/netflix-said-to-agree-to-pay-comcast-for-faster-broadband-access.html