Streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX had many hit series and movies over the years. Of all the content on Netflix, none came close to the record-setting performance of “Squid Game.”
The massive success of “Squid Game” led to a lawsuit from a leading telecommunications company over increased network traffic. The lawsuit has been resolved with a partnership announced this week.
What Happened: Netflix and telecommunications company SK Telecom Co Ltd SKM have been in a battle since 2020 relating to broadband usage. After increased traffic demand due to “Squid Game,” SK Telecom unit SK Broadband sued the streaming company.
SK said at the time that Netflix was the second largest data traffic generator, trailing only Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL-owned YouTube. Other big traffic generators including Amazon, Apple and Facebook were said to be paying SK Broadband.
After three years and several lawsuits, Netflix, SK Telecom and SK Broadband are putting their differences aside and announced a partnership.
The partnership will see bundled packages offered for customers with Netflix, SK Telecom and SK Broadband items offered together. The bundle packages have different price points offered to consumers.
Additional plans will be offered with Netflix and SK Telecom’s subscription service T Universe bundled together and additional plans with Netflix’s ad-supported lower-priced plan.
The new bundles will be released in the first half of 2024, according to the companies.
Alongside the new partnership and bundle options, Netflix and the SK Telecom units will explore levering AI technologies from SK that could create “better entertainment experiences for customers.”
As part of the partnership, SK Broadband and Netflix are ending all past disputes.
“Netflix is committed to creating and delivering the best stories to members in Korea and audiences worldwide, and we have high expectations for the journey ahead as partners serving our customers with SK Telecom and SK Broadband,” Netflix Vice President of APAC Partnerships Tony Zameczkowski said.
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Why It’s Important: The newly signed partnership does not have financial details, but could see Netflix off the hook for paying out a fee related to the increased network demands SK Broadband had during “Squid Game’s” peak popularity.
A South Korean court listed a cost of around $23 million that Netflix should have to pay for the increased network demands realized by SK Broadband, according to The Verge.
Resolving the lawsuits and announcing the partnership comes as Netflix has been spending additional money in South Korea on new content and has more “Squid Game” related content coming.
A sequel to the hit series is planned for Netflix and the streaming giant also has a reality show based on the hit show coming to the platform in the future.
“Squid Game” holds the Netflix record with 1.65 billion hours watched in the first 28 days of availability. The series was watched by 142 million member households in the first four weeks on Netflix.
Netflix ended the most recently reported second quarter with 238.39 million global paid subscribers.
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