Netflix Strikes Deal with Comcast to Connect Directly to ISP
posted Sunday Feb 23, 2014 by Nicholas DiMeo
If you've been having problems streaming Netflix lately, you're not the only one. As we've covered in the past, ISPs are to be blamed for the slow speeds. So even if you want to watch House of Cards in Super HD on your ridiculously fast connection, it still might not be possible because of Internet providers throttling bandwidth and slowing speeds to Netflix. However, Comcast users can now rejoice as a deal has been struck to eliminate that nagging problem.
Comcast, ending up near the bottom of the recent Netflix stream speed test, has come to an agreement with the video-streaming service to make sure that the customer user experience between the two companies are top notch. Netflix will be paying Comcast directly to make sure more bandwidth is allocated towards Netflix streaming. Specific details have not been disclosed, but what we do know is that it's a long-term deal that pits Comcast customers directly with Netflix servers that will be housed in third-party, off-site data centers.
This change is a big one, because it eliminates the need for Netflix to have to rely on exchange services like Cogent, which essentially creates bottlenecks, causing the lag and buffering issues we're all likely familiar with. Also, this decision was already in place last week, as customers were reporting better speeds and connections, so it seems Comcast has confirmed the reason why with this announcement. However, the direct connection was only available in certain test markets and will now be rolled out nationwide over the next few weeks.
From what we hear from sources familiar with the deal, both CEOs have been discussing this since International CES 2013. Now that Comcast has struck a deal with Netflix, what else is in store for the company? It would appear that the telecom giant is on a path of goodwill lately, especially after the announced Time Warner acquisition. Comcast needs some positive news surrounding what could be a problem for consumers, so by having things like better video-streaming experiences and bringing back popular TV shows like Heroes, it might quell some of the naysayers. Only time will tell, but for now, Comcast users can enjoy less lag in SuperHD for their favorite Wings episodes. I love Wings.