Google has just released their Google Video Quality Report - in Wellington Snap, Telecom UltraFibre and Vodafone cable get the "HD Verified" seal. In Auckland Slingshot and Telecom UltraFibre.
Telecom today welcomed the release of Google’s first Video Quality Report for New Zealand, which rates Telecom Ultra Fibre as “HD Verified”, and shows Telecom VDSL and ADSL2 (or ‘advanced’ ADSL) are very close to also receiving an HD Verified rating in most parts of the country. Together these technologies cover more than 90% of Telecom’s broadband customer base.
The Google HD Verified rating requires that at least 90% of YouTube videos streamed over a particular ISPs service are capable of serving in HD (high definition) without interruption.
Telecom Head of Broadband David Redmore said it was great to have another measure for customers who wanted to assess the quality of different broadband products, and that the report gave a real-world demonstration of the high quality Telecom network.
“We’ve had a strong focus over the past few years on making sure our broadband customers have a consistently great online experience – whether they’re watching YouTube videos, movies, gaming or on social media, and no matter what the time of day. This has meant bringing the latest technology – like Fibre and VDSL - to our customers, while also investing around $30 million a year into things like caching and greater bandwidth on our network.
“Of course the quality of video streaming is dependent on a number of factors – such as in-home wiring and the underlying infrastructure provided by Chorus and other local infrastructure providers. However, today’s report does show that our investment is paying off when it comes to the ‘real world’ experience we offer, with Telecom’s results standing out in the market.”
Telecom only offers ADSL1 to the less than 10% of customers for whom there is no alternative due to the network infrastructure in their area (primarily rural areas).
Google launched the rating service to help consumers better understand and – if necessary – improve their online experience. The HD rating verification offers a consistent, objective and third-party measurement that moves beyond speeds in terms of Mbps to a benefit that everyone can understand.
From Snap:
Snap, one of New Zealand’s fastest growing telecommunications providers, has received the highest rating in Google’s first Video Quality Report in New Zealand.
Snap’s network is now ‘YouTube HD Verified’ on average across New Zealand, meaning users can expect to watch YouTube videos in HD (at least 720p) with quick load times at least 90 percent of the time.
The Google Video Quality Report is a simple way to measure how an internet service provider delivers YouTube content on its network. The report is based on billions of YouTube videos watched across thousands of ISPs.
“This rating is an effective guide for consumers who are looking for the best ISP,” said James Koers, General Manager of Snap’s Retail Division. “Unlike other reports that are highly technical, the Google Video Quality Report will help consumers easily identify the viewing experience they are likely to receive from their chosen ISP.”
“Receiving this rating from Google is testament to our strategy of focussing on higher bandwidth services like VDSL and Fibre, ensuring we deliver high performance internet to our customers,” adds James. “Watching YouTube is integral to New Zealanders’ everyday internet experience and no one wants to sit through a video that continually buffers or plays in low resolution.”
whoops didnt see this when i started a new one, i wonder why vdsl providers arent 'HD verified'
i can understand adsl connections on average across nz might be poor quality but vdsl connections are supposed to only be installed if you are close enough to the cabinet/exchange, so it would make sense that they would be "HD verified"
witch leads to my next question, how do they tell the difference between cable connections, adsl and vdsl connections, telecom has one for vdsl, one for adsl and one for ufb and some just have one for everything.
and slingshot doesnt have any data for christchurch, it still thinks im in auckland!
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Without a forum for letting us bitch at our ISP's for soo long about all the buffering we had to put up with. Some of the larger ISP's took way too long to implement these services. Some of them still need active reminders to fix things when we have issues especially during primetime. Twitchtv type service also are reliant on decent ISP's to allow HD throughput.
It is a bit of an unusual thing for Google to start handing out Youtube HD verified in my opinion, just a marketing stunt. Really what it seems to be saying is, here is a list of all of the ISPs we have given Google caches to, or who peer with an ISP who has a Google cache Or maybe I'm being pessimistic and there is a bit more involved :)
I wonder if they have changed how their servers decide what quality they give you after doing these tests. I'm on ADSL with Vodafone and would get 360p automatically selected for me but now it chooses 480p and usually within a few seconds up it to 720p.
jnimmo: It is a bit of an unusual thing for Google to start handing out Youtube HD verified in my opinion, just a marketing stunt. Really what it seems to be saying is, here is a list of all of the ISPs we have given Google caches to, or who peer with an ISP who has a Google cache Or maybe I'm being pessimistic and there is a bit more involved :)
theres quite a lot of net neutrality politics stuff going on in america at the moment, apparently ISP's there shape traffic to netflix and youtube unless those companies pay the ISP for some sort of ransom to get the full speed back to their viewers.
i think verizon is suing netflix for putting messages up saying "verizons network is overloaded at the moment" or something along those lines
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