Netflix Seeks OVD Conditions on AT&T/DirecTV

Netflix has told the FCC that without conditions guarding against what it suggests are anticompetitive paid peering and data cap practices, the FCC should not approve the AT&T/DirecTV deal.

In its initial comments on the proposed merger, which were due this week, the online video powerhouse said that AT&T has made it clear it sees OVDs like Netflix as a threat to their own video offerings and had used its market power to degrade customers' Netflix access until Netflix agreed to pay "a terminating access fee" (paid peering).

It said that without conditions to insure OVD competition, the combined company has the incentive and ability to harm edge providers, practices that will not be "disciplined" by competition in the broadband market.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.