South Korean telco SK Broadband and Netflix call a truce in network payment fight
- Reference: 1695018669
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/18/south_korean_telco_sk_broadband/
- Source link:
SK Broadband [1]brought legal action against Netflix in October 2021, claiming the vid-streaming services should cover the surging costs it incurred by carrying hit shows like Squid Game that drove 1.2 terabits per second of Netflix across the telco's network in September 2021 alone.
SK claimed Netflix, which was responsible for five percent of South Korea's Q4 2020 traffic, owed $24 million in 2020 network usage fees.
[2]
Netflix, unsurprisingly, thought it should not have to pay extra for its own success. The streaming giant [3]reasoned that its content delivery network, Open Connect, is offered gratis and is "proven to reduce at least 95 percent of network traffic." Netflix asserted that the telco had turned a blind eye to the tool.
[4]
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That's all moot now, because the two have stopped being enemies and formed a partnership.
"Moving forward, SK Broadband and Netflix will end all disputes with the signing of today's partnership, and collaborate as partners for the future. This mutual decision stems from both parties' shared foundational principle that prioritizes customers," [6]states a Monday press release from SK Broadband's parent company, SK Telecom.
[7]Netflix sued by South Korean ISP after Squid Game fans swell traffic to '1.2Tbps'
[8]South Korea's biggest mobile telco says 5G has failed to deliver on its promise
[9]Cisco buys SamKnows to give ThousandEyes a look at millions of endpoints
[10]South Korea sets site reliability engineering standards for Big Tech
The entertainment-focused partnership will see the duo release joint products and explore the use of AI.
Netflix, SK Telecom and SK Broadband declared that they would together facilitate easier access and payment options through Netflix, SK Broadband's IPTV, and SK Telecom's T Universe, with the telco providing bundled packages.
[11]
And while Netflix has been in the news recently for wanting to use AI to [12]create digital versions of human extras it can use in perpetuity for a pittance, the AI collaboration with SK Broadband will initially target more accessible technology – such as the telco's conversational UX and personalization tech.
SK Telecom veep Choi Hwan-seok promised the network provider would "continue to evolve into an AI company and work together with various players at home and abroad." ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/01/netflix_sued_by_korean_broadband/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZQgfwxiFlqWPaxGQEJzYxwAAAwo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/08/netflix_south_korea_network_use_fees_dispute/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZQgfwxiFlqWPaxGQEJzYxwAAAwo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZQgfwxiFlqWPaxGQEJzYxwAAAwo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.sktelecom.com/en/press/press_detail.do?idx=1580
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/01/netflix_sued_by_korean_broadband/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/21/sk_telecom_5g_disappointed/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/27/cisco_thousandeyes_samknows/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/south_korea_site_reliability/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZQgfwxiFlqWPaxGQEJzYxwAAAwo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/14/actors_strike_gen_ai/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: SK Broadband is still being unreasonable
The telco provides access to content and bills accordingly.
The fact that a lot of that content ends up being with a single provider is coincidental - the telco either needs to provide access to it, or offer a product without access to it (which customers will avoid if they're after, in this case, Netflix).
If something is being sold metered (e.g. 100GB for £10) or unlimited for £20, it better be able to deliver it...
This feels like a symptom of a monopoly/lack of competition.
(all very reminiscent of the same problem in the US, and people banging on about net neutrality... telcos looking for other people to pay for their infrastructure)
Re: SK Broadband is still being unreasonable
I've said this before and I'll say it again, why does SK Broadband think it has the right to single out Netflix and wring money out of it ?
Easy-
SK claimed Netflix, which was responsible for five percent of South Korea's Q4 2020 traffic, owed $24 million in 2020 network usage fees.
But it's a decades old debate that is mostly unresolved. Netflix's solution doesn't really help because most of the costs come from the edges of the network. Streaming increases ISPs costs, but without some form of cost-sharing, the only way to cover those costs is to increase broadband fees. Bigger issue is congestion management and avoidance, ie terabytes of relatively delay insensitive traffic swamping more delay sensitive and causing packet loss. Solution to that are CoS and QoS, but that opens up the whole 'Net Neutrality' can of worms.
Curious to see what deal was done between SK and Netflix though, especially as Netflix has helped promote K-TV and cinema, who make content that's often waaaay more fun than the Hollywood garbage. Not sure how ownership works between SK content producers and SKT though because Korean business/industrial conglomerates are strange beasts.
SK Broadband is still being unreasonable
I've said this before and I'll say it again, why does SK Broadband think it has the right to single out Netflix and wring money out of it ?
Netflix pays for its broadband usage already. SK Broadband's clients pay for their usage.
If SK Boradband feels that it is not being paid enough, it should adjust its prices, not attack a specific website.