Verizon slowed down YouTube, Netflix, and other video streaming services as part of a “test”
Verizon Wireless admitted that it throttled video traffic on its mobile network — including streams from YouTube and Netflix — as part of “test.” It said that speeds would return to normal in the next few days.
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Network regulation by carriers may make it harder for you watch streaming video online — just as Game of Thrones is getting good.
Subscribe to Netflix and stream movies over Verizon? Chances are you were throttled. On Friday, the internet provider acknowledged that it capped customersâ speeds to 10Mbps this week as part of a âvideo optimization test.â
âWeâve been doing network testing over the past few days to optimize the performance of video applications on our network,â a Verizon spokesperson told Ars Technica. âThe testing should be completed shortly. The customer video experience was not affected.â
Verizon said that the experiment, which used a new âvideo optimization systemâ designed to slow down streams from specific video sources, was temporary, and that the quality of video shouldnât have been affected. But some YouTube users on Reddit and Howard Forums reported excessive buffering, longer-than-average loading times, and other visual issues brought on by Verizonâs throttling.
At least two Verizon subscribers observed reduced speeds in the YouTube appâs âstats for nerdsâ section.
âYouTube is being throttled to 10Mbps as well,â one person wrote on Thursday. âIn the âstats for nerdsâ it would load at roughly 1,250KBps which translates to 10Mbps. Put the VPN on and that number tripled easily. Didnât have an issue playing 1080p in 60fps, though.â
âConfirmed here too,â another person wrote. â1440p videos are throttled at a constant 9.95Mbps. I wasnât even able to keep up and buffered at a few points.â
Verizonâs traffic-shaping would appear to skirt the FCCâs net neutrality rules, which generally outlaw throttling. But Verizon says that the test fell within the boundâs of the FCCâs exceptions, which allow carriers to impose limitations as long as theyâre (1) metered out equally across services, and (2) imposed for the purposes of network management.
âWe deliver whatever the content provider gives us,â a Verizon spokesperson said. âWeâre always looking for ways to optimize our network without impacting our customersâ experience.â
As Ars Technica notes, Verizonâs throttling wasnât severe enough to impact most subscribersâ experiences. Netflix says that its highest mobile quality setting, Unlimited, âmay use up to 1GB per 20 minutes or more depending on your device and network speeds.â Assuming the download rate is relatively consistent, a connection of less than 7Mbps â much slower than the 10Mbps limit to which Verizon subjected subscribers â would be sufficient.
Until last year, Netflix throttled its own video streams on AT&T and Verizon in order to help users stay under their data caps. But it changed when it began letting users choose from several different quality settings.
Itâs not the first time an internet provider has been caught imposing caps on services. In 2008, Comcast began throttling â and in some cases blocking altogether â peer-to-peer (P2P) BitTorrent traffic on its network. The cable provider initially denied responsibility for the reduced speeds, but later acknowledged in a memo to the FCC that it had âengaged in traffic management techniquesâ in order to âensure a high-quality, reliable Internet experience.â
In 2009, it agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought on by angry customers for $16 million.