That time in early June, when AT&T (NYSE: T) legislative affairs chief Jim Cicconi zinged Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) for "double talk" in the net neutrality debate? Just part of the honeymoon, it appears.
AT&T and the SVOD provider revealed that they've had an interconnection deal in place since May to deliver better streaming performance across the Internet service provider's network.
"We're now beginning to turn up the connections, a process that should be complete in the coming days," AT&T spokesman Michael Balmoris told Reuters.
Netflix, of course, has rolled out similar deals with Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) over the course of 2014, publicly complaining to the Federal Communications Commission--or anybody who will listen, for that matter--along the way.
AT&T has ranked low on Netflix's "ISP Speed Index," the discussion-inducing monthly ranker the streaming service puts out to illustrate which broadband providers are delivering its video the fastest.
In fact, for June, AT&T delivered Netflix streams at an average of just 1.50 Mbps, just behind 12th place Verizon. The latter signed its interconnection deal with Netflix in April, but the two companies have engaged in contentious net neutrality debate ever since. Verizon's Netflix streaming performance has actually degraded since the deal was signed, with reports surfacing that the two parties had done little to technologically prepare for the agreement before it was announced.
For more:
- read this Reuters story
- read this Deadline Hollywood story
Related links:
Net neutrality: Cohen says Comcast not 'degrading' content, Netflix tells FCC to classify ISPs as utility
Level 3: Verizon is slowing Netflix to extract money from us
Responding to Netflix PR stunts 101: Don't get into a fight you can't win