When it came to which ISP served up its video streams the fasted in the Boston area, Netflix said RCN was faster than the likes of Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications.
For the second quarter, RCN took top honors in Beantown in Netflix’s first Regional Netflix ISP Speed Index Snapshot by outperforming other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by as much as 70 percent.
“When it comes to getting a great Internet connection in your home, our first Regional Netflix ISP Speed Index Snapshot clearly shows that a bigger ISP isn’t always a better ISP,” said Greg Peters, chief streaming and partnerships officer at Netflix. “RCN delivers a very impressive connection, offering equal or better quality than what fiber to the home delivers.”
RCN, which is a member of Netflix’s Open Connect initiative, had an average stream speed of 2.42 Mbps, followed by Charter (2.19 Mbps), Verizon (2.15 Mbps), Comcast (2.13 Mbps), Time Warner Cable (2.05 Mbps), Fairpoint (1.59 Mbps) and Verizon’s DSL service (1.42 Mbps.)
“At RCN our goal is to provide a superior customer experience through a platform that offers cutting edge technology. That includes providing top quality, reliable Internet to our customers at speeds up to 75Mbps. It’s great to see Netflix confirm that RCN beats Verizon and Comcast by a big margin,” said Jeff Carlson, vice president and general manager at RCN.
Netflix’s Regional Netflix ISP Speed Index Snapshot is an extension of its Netflix ISP Speed Index, a Web site the company launched in March that provides monthly rankings of large domestic and international ISPs based on Netflix performance.
“We expect to publish more regional snapshots in the future and we’ll highlight certain markets to showcase where ISPs are delivering a great Netflix experience to consumers,” Peters wrote in his Netflix blog. “Often these ISPs don’t meet the criteria for our national rankings, so we have a chance to show off their performance in these regional snapshots.”
Netflix’s Open Connect was launched early last year and Netflix said ISPs could receive its video, at no additional cost, directly at the interconnection point of the ISP’s choice, or closer to the edge via its Open Connect Appliance chassis.
In addition to RCN, other ISPs that have signed on to use Netflix’s free Open Connect program include Google Fiber, Cablevision, Suddenlink, Virgin Media, British Telecom, Telmex, Telus, TDC, and GVT. Open Connect members gain access to Netflix’s Super HD and 3D content.
