Netflix not coming to NZ anytime soon :(

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ashnizzle

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Topic # 93722 28-Nov-2011 11:39

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6045189/NZ-internet-a-deterrent-to-online-TV

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BDFL - Memuneh
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Reply # 550873 28-Nov-2011 11:47

As I said on Twitter, this is a lame excuse. Other providers use cache and CDN to distribute content locally, which reduces the reliance on international links.

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Ragnor

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Reply # 550874 28-Nov-2011 11:50

Netflix heavily uses Amazon services (S3 etc), Amazon has no presence here hence no Netflix.

Plus existing regional distribution rights are a minefield.

freitasm

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Reply # 550875 28-Nov-2011 11:51

Yes, but then they can't blame our model. It's their choice of CDN... They could use Akamai, as Apple does.

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jonb

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Reply # 550878 28-Nov-2011 11:55

Agree, the technological arguments against it seem pretty lightweight. I'd imagine a much bigger barrier is the local rights, and namely Sky having them all sewn up?

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Reply # 550884 28-Nov-2011 12:00

freitasm: Yes, but then they can't blame our model. It's their choice of CDN... They could use Akamai, as Apple does.

Akamai has a streaming service but for Netflix I don't think their service is flexible or customisable enough to be an option.

ie: Netflix has built large amount of unique tooling in order to provide their service how they do... those things just don't run on Akamai.

davidcole

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Reply # 550885 28-Nov-2011 12:02

Were they complaining about the cost of getting the data to NZ, or that as end users our plans are too small?

Regardless it did seem to be a cop out, especially the latter, that's my problem, not yours. I'll decide how to use my internet.

I agree with jonb, I'd pick it's Sky. I remember having a twitter conversation with Setanta AU, Sky has the rights to the English premier league and a few others, but as far as I know only broadcast a small selection of the games, and because of this you cannot (officially) as a private citizen obtain a Setanta subscription for use in NZ because they are not allowed to broadcast that content here.

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dclegg

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Reply # 550890 28-Nov-2011 12:12

freitasm: Yes, but then they can't blame our model. It's their choice of CDN... They could use Akamai, as Apple does.

Thats only one part of the problem though. There is still the issue of relatively low data caps. I have a 60GB cap, and I regularly get the "80% used" warning email from my ISP. This is without streaming a lot of video content.

crackrdbycracku

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Reply # 550892 28-Nov-2011 12:12

jonb: I'd imagine a much bigger barrier is the local rights, and namely Sky having them all sewn up?

Pretty much. Sky are the people who would get spanked by NetFlix or any pay per view via internet service like this.

They also have very deep pockets from selling New Zealanders pay TV package deals for a long time now. This means a lot of pull where it counts.

This is very sad but it means the options are:

take what you get via Freeview, Sky, the local vid shop.
illegally download stuff and risk the penalty. This also means not paying for stuff you like making it less likely there will be more stuff you like in future.
break the NetFlix T&Cs but using a VPN or DNS.

It's a real shame.

The only upside I can see is a business opportunity for a service which comes to your house with all the stuff and know how required for option three charges a fee for the service (and sources any required hardware, charging a bit of a mark-up of course) and provides support. I don't have the expertise for this and anybody doing this should check the legality.

Real sad.

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freitasm

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Reply # 550893 28-Nov-2011 12:12

Perhaps low data cap because people don't have content to actually use it?

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davidcole

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Reply # 550895 28-Nov-2011 12:14

freitasm: Perhaps low data cap because people don't have content to actually use it?

I think if the content came the data caps would follow.

I mean people are downloading (legal and illegally) on their current datacaps so what is the difference? And while it might be tight for a while, things would change, and our data caps are growing each year.

dclegg

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Reply # 550896 28-Nov-2011 12:17

freitasm: Perhaps low data cap because people don't have content to actually use it?

That sounds like a bit of a chicken and egg problem then if its one of the reasons that content providers are listing for not bringing their services here. If Netflix or similar was available here, and the costs were reasonable (both for their service and the consumption of data from my ISP), I'd definitely be interested.

We tried to use one of our existing options the other week, to catch a show we forgot to record (TVNZ On Demand via the PS3). It was unusable to the point that we had to give up 30 minutes in.

sbiddle

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Reply # 550943 28-Nov-2011 13:25

dclegg:
We tried to use one of our existing options the other week, to catch a show we forgot to record (TVNZ On Demand via the PS3). It was unusable to the point that we had to give up 30 minutes in.

Who is your ISP? There have been a number of people say TVNZ and TV3's service is terrible on Slingshot.

dclegg

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Reply # 550954 28-Nov-2011 13:31

sbiddle:
dclegg:
We tried to use one of our existing options the other week, to catch a show we forgot to record (TVNZ On Demand via the PS3). It was unusable to the point that we had to give up 30 minutes in.

Who is your ISP? There have been a number of people say TVNZ and TV3's service is terrible on Slingshot.

Telecom. I have no qualms with their performance generally.

The TVNZ On Demand experience is terrible. Not only does the UX leave a lot to be desired, but video playback stopped every few minutes, taking a few seconds to recover. At about 30 minutes in, playback stopped again but never recovered.

Zeon

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Reply # 550966 28-Nov-2011 13:49

dclegg:
freitasm: Perhaps low data cap because people don't have content to actually use it?

That sounds like a bit of a chicken and egg problem then if its one of the reasons that content providers are listing for not bringing their services here. If Netflix or similar was available here, and the costs were reasonable (both for their service and the consumption of data from my ISP), I'd definitely be interested.

We tried to use one of our existing options the other week, to catch a show we forgot to record (TVNZ On Demand via the PS3). It was unusable to the point that we had to give up 30 minutes in.

If the service could be delivered by a NZ (or even better, NZ regional) CDN then its quite possible for ISPs to offer it at a far cheaper rate than currently.

mattwnz

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Reply # 551000 28-Nov-2011 14:57

I think the data issue is just a red herring, as it is possible for certain isps to provide unmetered bandwidth to those typesof services once an agreement has been struck. I think it is more about content agreements.

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