While corporate lawyers for the respective two sides managed to hammer out an interconnection deal back in April, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are just now getting down to the technical details behind their peering arrangement. And Netflix-subscribing Verizon ISP customers probably won't see their streaming performance improve until the end of the year.
Interviewing engineers and executives from both companies, Ars Technica reports that this is in direct contrast to the interconnection agreement hammered out between Netflix and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) in February. According to the tech blog, engineers for Netflix and Comcast had been quietly working behind the scenes for four months prior to announcement of the peering deal to plan and execute the complex infrastructural arrangement.
When lawyers for the companies finally rendered a deal, Comcast broadband customers saw an almost immediate improvement in Netflix streaming.
Conversely, Netflix says its streaming performance on Verizon actually got worse in May. The two sides have been openly quarreling about this issue for several weeks.
"Once we had an agreement and knew the interconnection points from Netflix, work began," a Verizon spokesperson told Ars Technica. "Due to Netflix's selection of locations for interconnection, as well as Verizon's desire to meet demand in all of our key markets, we must jointly ready facilities to complete that interconnection. We are also ensuring that as we bring the increased traffic to our network, that we are able to meet our brand promise of an industry-leading experience not just with Netflix, but for all content and services. We are in the process of doing this, and we will be incrementally rolling it out starting next month and progressing through the fourth quarter."
For more:
- read this Ars Technica story
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