To Prevent Free Riding on Telecom Networks
Lawmaker Yang Jung-suk tabled a bill to force major value-added common carriers to conclude contracts and pay adequate costs regarding the use of an information and communications network.
“The data traffic that Netflix caused in relation to SK Broadband was 50 Gbps in May 2018 and 1,200 Gbps in September this year,” she said, adding, “In spite of the surge, Netflix is still using the network free of charge.”
According to her, Netflix currently accounts for most of video traffic generation in South Korea, the company is claiming that it does not have to pay network charges because it uses its own technical means, and yet the result of the first trial between Netflix and SK Broadband is against such claims. “The other companies in the industry including Facebook are not using networks free of charge in South Korea whereas Netflix is abusing its dominant position,” she went on to say, continuing, “This has led to discrimination that has to be corrected.”
At present, Netflix is paying network charges to Comcast, Verizon and AT&T in the United States and Orange in France. In other countries, common carriers are criticizing it for using their networks without paying anything.