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Last week amongst announcements of BTs new high speed network, news broke that they are also severely limiting users trying to use online video streaming sites during peak times. BT had suggested it had been in talks with the BBC over its iPlayer service, which provides TV programs on demand, often in high qualities.
This week however, BT has officially called for an end to the ‘free ride’ enjoyed by video websites. Bt are not only targeting sites like iPlayer but also video sharing sites that are popular worldwide such as Google’s YouTube service.
This is the first time the telecommunications company has made an outright claim that it expects content providers to pay for the bandwidth their services use.
With the Digital Britain report asking for faster speeds at cheaper prices, BT and other ISPs are looking at finding alternative revenue sources in order to cover the cost of providing high quality content for as little as £12 per month.
John Petter, Managing director of BT Retail said “”We can’t give the content providers a completely free ride and continue to give customers the [service] they want at the price they expect.” He also commented that the problem goes beyond their argument with the BBC last week: “This is a much bigger issue than the BBC iPlayer; it’s true of all forms of video content coming across the web. It’s becoming a more and more pressing issue”
BT have refused to give exact figures related to how much video content providers were costing the company, but believed that the profitable business models of many content providers was justification for paying BT to deliver their content.
Rory Cellan-Jones, the technology editor for the BBC said in his blog: “Now Britain’s biggest internet service provider is making it clear that, in a cut-throat broadband market, something is going to have to give – and net neutrality may have to be chucked overboard.” He also stated that both the BBC and BT were “maneuvering in advance of the Carter report.”
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