Why are Netflix streaming video speeds slowing down?

From September to March, the average speed at which Netflix video arrived at customers’ homes declined across many of America’s largest Internet providers. People who subscribe to Verizon DSL, for example, saw speeds drop by 42 percent, according to Netflix, whose online “speed index” tracks video download rates for more than 60 US providers.

Why would download speeds drop off by almost half in just six months? With more people streaming video online – whether it is through Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, or any number of other services – the plumbing that services the Internet has become increasingly congested. Now, a battle has broken out over how to address these metaphorical clogged pipes. Many different companies own the servers, fiber-optic cables, and home connections that make up the Internet. Because of this fragmentation, no single Internet provider can access everything the Web has to offer. They need to work together, or else there would be a Comcast Internet that cannot access the AT&T Internet. To keep things flowing smoothly, big providers often agree to share the load with each other at little or no cost. Essentially, I’ll accept all of your traffic, if you accept mine. But as America’s hunger for streaming video increases, the deals that connected all these different networks have started to fall apart.