BT service could pave the way for two-tier web

BT is starting to sell a new service that gives broadband providers the tools to create a two-tier Internet, where some video content would reach consumers in a better condition than other material.

The service devised by BT’s wholesale unit gives broadband providers the opportunity to charge content owners for high quality distribution of their video products to consumers. BT is seeking to capitalize on the fast-growing volume of video being downloaded over fixed-line and mobile infrastructure, led by services such as Google’s YouTube and the BBC’s iPlayer. A new content distribution network built by BT should ensure that bandwidth-hungry video can be streamed to consumers without interruption, even at peak web usage times. BT is starting to give its retail unit, and other telecoms companies, the chance to use the network by selling a wholesale service called Content Connect. BT Retail is using Content Connect to supply the company’s television customers with the BBC iPlayer. The Open Rights Group, a consumer campaigns organization, expressed concern that BT’s content distribution network could clash with the principle of net neutrality, or the idea that all web traffic should be treated equally.