Charter Communications (CHTR -1.5%) is petitioning the FCC for the ability to start charging streaming video firms for the efficient carriage of their Internet traffic.
The cableco says the online video market is flourishing, and it should be freed up from two conditions imposed on it as part of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.
In one case, Charter hasn't been able to charge interconnection fees to streaming firms like Netflix (NFLX +2.4%), HBO Max (T -0.6%), Disney (DIS +0.8%) and others, as its merger plans were decided when stricter net neutrality rules were being written that barred such fees.
Eventually, under a new administration and new FCC commissioner, the FCC repealed the net neutrality regulations - and Charter says the market is strong despite reported interconnection fees charged by Comcast (CMCSA -1.5%), Verizon (VZ -0.7%) and AT&T.
The other condition from which Charter is seeking relief is tied to imposing data caps.
So what does this really mean? Well, the cable companies want to be able to charge even more money for using their service. They are charging the consumer for using the utility. The faster more efficient the speed you want, the more you have to pay. But at any time, the company can throttle, or slow down, your speed... that you are paying for. Now they want to be free to charge fees to streaming services for using their network. Right now, they haven't been able to charge Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + for simply being online services but it seems they want to change that.
Think of it, it's like Comcast charging Facebook because Facebook is an online service. This is just an example. Good ol' American capitalism at work. But it isn't like this everywhere. For example, when I lived in Daegu, Korea my flat was a new build. All I had to do is plug in my computer using an Ethernet cable and viola! instant internet. If I wanted wi-fi, I just had to go buy a router and hook it up. My internet was the highest speed (there is only the one speed in Daegu) and had never been throttled (slowed down). If I perused my utility bill, the internet was less than $4 a month. And before you westerners start screaming restrictive access or websites you can't get on... I've actually encountered MORE restrictions to websites and downloading in the states than I ever did in Korea. And, there were no DATA caps.
Data capping is when the cable company you are paying decides you are using too much data in a given time, even though you are paying them to use the data. Good ol' American capitalism says the company can arbitrarily decide that even though you are paying for a high speed or unlimited data, they can slow down or even stop data transfer if they determine you are using too much... of the service you are paying for.
There are only 4 areas in the USA that have a higher population density than Seoul: 1. Manhattan 71,240 people/square mile, 2. Guttenberg NJ 56,560, 3. Union City NJ 51,650 people/square mile 4. Koreatown LA 42,610 people per square mile. But in Seoul, as in the rest of Korea, internet isn't throttled. So if Seoul and the rest of Korea can manage to keep their population (of gamers!!!!) online at the highest internet speeds in the world for an average of $17, what does that say about USA companies where the average for median speed is $45 (mine is $100 for the highest consumer speed and the company still throttles and has rolling brown outs of service).
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