Reed Hastings was right: Internet services providers are — by and large — choking broadband speeds, which prevents watching Netflix glitch free.
The vast majority of ISPs fell short in the last year when it came to giving consumers the Internet speeds they paid for, according to a shocking new report by the Federal Communications Commission.
The matter has become a lightning-rod issue amid claims by Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, that some providers are cheating consumers in a bid to force the streaming giant to fork over cash for better service.
Half of ISPs studied delivered under 100 percent of advertised speeds, according to the FCC report. And several offenders delivered less than 60 percent of advertised speeds to a majority of the test group.
One of the worst performers was Verizon DSL, which provided 42 percent of advertised speed to 95 percent of the testers. Verizon DSL also was the only provider that showed worse results than last year.
The clear winner was Cablevision, which delivered more than 100 percent of advertised speeds to 95 percent of the FCC’s test group. Long Island-based Cablevision also delivered 100 percent or better of advertised speed to 80 percent of the FCC’s test panelists during peak periods.
“Consumers deserve to get what they pay for,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said. “I’m concerned that some providers are failing to deliver consistent speeds to consumers that are commensurate to their advertised speeds.”
Wheeler told FCC staffers to write to underperforming providers asking why they fell short and what they plan to do to solve the problem, he said.
In general, copper wire DSL services lagged behind pricier cable and fiber broadband providers, the 70-page FCC report showed.
The debate comes as the FCC considers new rules for regulating Web traffic after its former “net neutrality” rules were tossed by a federal appeals court.