Netflix Sued For Millions in Bandwidth Usage Fees by South Korean ISP SK Broadband. In a report by Reuters, the South Korean internet service provider SK broadband is suing Netflix. The reason for this is that there has been an increase in network costs and bandwidth usage drawn by the streaming company in South Korea.
Netflix Sued For Millions in Bandwidth Usage Fees by South Korean ISP SK Broadband
The internet providers also claimed that the squid game and D.P are the two popular Korean Netflix dramas for this increased cost of bandwidth usage. In June a South Korean court took sides with ISP, writes the Korea Herald. The company claims that Netflix is the main cause behind the demand put in the company (SK).
Netflix however requested that the company not be charged since the customers are the ones streaming and that they already paid for the service. The court in a statement said, “the company has the obligation of paying the price for the services to SK broadband.” According to Reuters, the internet service provider estimates the cost at 27.2 billion won (almost $23 million) in 2020 alone.
What Netflix Has To Say
The verge contacted Netflix on a comment, but however, the company (Netflix) shared the following statement with TechCrunch in a response to SK’s demands;
“We will review the claim that SK Broadband has filed against us. In the meantime, we continue to seek open dialogue and explore ways of working with SK broadband in order to ensure a seamless experience for our shared customers.”
The success of Netflix in Korea and also in making Korean films and television popular in the US came to a high in the last year. And also it leaked this week all thanks to the surprise hit squid game. Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix said on Monday that the squid game was on track to be the company’s most popular show as of yet. The show is already number one in the US on Netflix’s top ten charts within four days of its release.
Reasons Why Netflix May Have To Pay
In the US Netflix partnered up with ISP like Comcast so its connection gets priority treatment and better video quality. But in this case, Netflix finds itself in a different position than when it agreed to pay Comcast. First, it has lost in court and SK telecom on the other hand is not incentivized to make a deal while regulators consider a pending big cable merger. So why the company might have a thing or two to do in the situation, it has already given reasons and examples why it should pay in the first place.
