News
Comcast: No Anti-Netflix Net
Policy For Us
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (December 8,
2011) -- Here's some good news
for Netflix (for a change). Comcast, the nation's largest cable
operator, says it doesn't plan to charge Internet customers by
the amount of data they use.
Wall Street analyst Craig
Moffett told Bloomberg News last week that cable and telco
operators will likely soon force their heaviest Internet
consumers to pay more for their service. This would have a large
impact on viewers who watch high-def video over the Net from
services such as Netflix because HD video consumes more
bandwidth than standard-def.
Moffett, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, said one major
cable operator is already planning to institute higher fees next
year. He added that Cox, Charter or Time Warner Cable may be the
first to do so.
But GigaOm, a tech web site, reports that new Comcast CEO Neil
Smit said this week at an industry conference that his company
has no plans to charge by use. He said such a policy would
discourage consumers from using Internet services, which in turn
could lead to a decline in subscriptions to Comcast's Internet
service and Triple Play offerings.
“Our goal is to grow share
and grow ARPU [average revenue per user],” added Comcast CFO
Michael Angelakis. “We don’t want to disrupt the consumer
experience."
"We don't want to nickle-and-dime customers at this point," said
Smit, according to GigaOm.
