Verizon Tops Netflix Streaming Rate Index

Verizon Fios had the fastest streaming rates in March, at 3.68 Mbps, CenturyLink the slowest, at 1.53 Mbps, Netflix said in its monthly speed report. The report doesn't touch on the controversy over its alleged throttling of signals to AT&T and Verizon, but focuses on wired connections (see 1603250050). “In the US, CenturyLink, whose performance has steadily slid since last November, now ranks last in the index with an average monthly speed of 1.53 Mbps,” Netflix said Monday. “By comparison, the slowest country we currently track -- Costa Rica -- posted average monthly performance of 1.87 Mbps in March.” But Netflix also said ISPs in general are seeing lower average rates because of Netflix’s ongoing encoding project. With encoding, programming uses less bandwidth. “With about 80 percent of our catalog now re-encoded, that change is beginning to impact the index,” Netflix said. “If you look at the US ISP Speed Index graph, you’ll see the group of top performers started moving collectively down last month and again this month. That movement as a group reflects more efficient streaming on those networks due to our encoding work.” CenturyLink didn't comment Tuesday.