Re: Netflix should not pay
"Netflix have exposed the problem, but they didn't cause it."
That's true. On the other hand, ISPs networks were designed before there was this amount of data being thrown around to so many of their customers all that more or less the same time.
More investment in their core network is required, but like any organisation, no one wants to spend money on upgrades to support something that may or may not catch on. It's a supply issue. A bit like, I dunno, having barely enough petrol tankers to keep the filling stations supplied. Drop a scare story that fuel is running out, demand goes up and customers suddenly find the network can't deliver the higher loads. More tankers and more drivers can fix the problem, but it takes time to bring that all on line. Looking ahead from the past, it was clear a problem was coming, but no one would spend the money to fix the problem before it happened. Same with ISPs networks. No one wanted to beleive that streaming video was going to get so big, so fast, so didn't properly invest to solve the problem. Now they need to, and it'll cost even more now and they have unhappy customers while waiting for, testing and installing new kit.
The poster boy for planning ahead is probably the Y2K problem. Ask most people and they say "what Y2K problem?". Yeah, because it was seen, planned for and solved before it actually became a problem. One of the rare occasions!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
