Netflix said that it has limited its video speeds on most carriers worldwide for years, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the U.S.
The issue came to light when T-Mobile accused AT&T and Verizon of throttling Netflix. Mobile video practices have been under a microscope since the December launch of T-Mobile’s Binge On program, which zero-rates the video content from some providers.
Netflix admitted that it is throttling its own service on purpose to about 600Kbps to “protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps.”
Netflix says it has throttled video speeds for as long as five years, but leaves video streamed by Sprint and T-Mobile customers alone due to those carriers’ less onerous policies. Netflix, which claims to be a proponent of net neutrality, says it is exploring new ways to stream video in such a way that it consumes less data.
AT&T and Verizon were not pleased with the revelation.
“We’re outraged to learn that Netflix is apparently throttling video for their AT&T customers without their knowledge or consent,” said AT&T.
