Verizon Addresses Accusations Of Bandwidth Manipulation Limiting Netflix, YouTube Streaming

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ was trading down Friday morning on allegations that it prematurely throttles Netflix, Inc. NFLX and YouTube GOOG GOOGL) speeds for subscribers who haven’t yet consumed their share of data.

While telecom subscribers expect reduced bandwidth after having breached a 22 GB threshold, 9to5Mac aggregated Reddit complaints to conclude that Verizon slows speeds prematurely.

Users claimed to have tested speeds and found Netflix and YouTube servers to be capped between 10 and 12 megabits per second while other sites run upward of 60 Mbps.

A Verizon representative told Benzinga the firm has been testing video streaming, and the process should not have disrupted viewing experience.

“We've been doing network testing over the past few days to optimize the performance of video applications on our network,” the spokesperson said. “The testing should be completed shortly. The customer video experience was not affected."

The company did not comment on claims of speed manipulation.

It is notable that, while 9to5Mac implied slower operations diminish the quality of streaming services, the cited consumer complaints did not report poorer viewing experience even if they did acknowledge slower speeds.

Neither Netflix nor YouTube owner Alphabet were available for comment.