From AppleInsider:

Netflix has been throttling video for AT&T and Verizon mobile subscribers for over five years, the streaming service has newly admitted, claiming it was in customers' best interests.

The company said it was trying to "protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps," according to the Wall Street Journal. AT&T and Verizon wireless customers are still limited to streaming Netflix at 600 kilobits per second, which reduces video quality in the process.
...
Streaming two hours of Netflix video at HD quality could consume up to 6 gigabytes of bandwidth, easily blowing past many of the data caps imposed by U.S. carriers. [emph mfn]

It does surprise me how much people stream to their phones now. I mean, honestly, six gigs for a movie? That's a lot of cellular data. I was trying to figure out if I should buy the "Sprint" or "Other" model of iPhone SE (there are three models, apparently. The third is exclusively for China), and, well, the only difference for me, as I'm on a Sprint MNVO, seems to be that the Other model lacks one LTE band, so I can't get 100 Mbps.

Losing the "LTE Plus" band could be a big deal for many. In 2014, Sprint was insanely slow compared to the other major carriers, with under 5 Mbps for their LTE.

But at 100 Mbps? I'd blow through my RingPlus "free" monthly 500 megs in 500 / (100/8) = about 40 seconds. I don't think this matters a lot for me.

But by far the most interesting piece to me is AT&T's reaction.

AT&T's senior executive VP of external and legislative affairs, Jim Cicconi, claimed the carrier was "outraged" to learn Netflix was throttling its customers without their consent.

Oh, "outraged", is he? Seems like there are two possible reasons for this. Either he knew and needs to protect AT&T's rep with their customers (unlimited is unlimited!), or, more likely as the grandfathered unlimited plans disappear, he's counting the dollars lost to AT&T in overage fees from streaming.

(Disclosure, I guess -- I own trivial amounts of AT&T stock. And Apple & Amazon stock. Probably should put all that on the blog somewhere permanent, not that you care.)

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