Why Google Fiber, unlike Comcast, gives Netflix free peering

[silicon_toad2000]

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/why-google-fiber-unlike-comcast-gives-netflix-free-peering/

Google Fiber's director of network engineering, Jeffrey Burgan, yesterday wrote a blog post explaining why the Google-operated Internet service provider doesn't charge Netflix and other content companies for direct connections to its network.

Comcast and other ISPs have demanded that Netflix enter "paid peering" agreements to get direct connections to their networks and alleviate congestion that can harm the performance of streaming video. Google Fiber, on the other hand, gives "companies like Netflix and Akamai [a content delivery network] free access to space and power in our facilities and they provide their own content servers," Burgan wrote. "We don’t make money from peering or colocation; since people usually only stream one video at a time, video traffic doesn’t bog down or change the way we manage our network in any meaningful way—so why not help enable it?"