Sling TV, operated by Dish Network, launched earlier this year. The service offers live TV over the Internet starting at $20 a month. Netflix, still the king of online video in the US, streams at an average of 3.69Mbps to Comcast customers in the US, but can go up to 25Mbps with “Ultra HD” quality.”
Dish is primarily a satellite TV provider but does offer satellite Internet. Dish’s data caps are even more restrictive than Comcast’s, but the company says its Internet service is only suitable for areas that have no other options. Data caps are pretty standard with satellite Internet, while the technically superior cable services generally have much higher limits or no caps at all.
Comcast’s own streaming video and net neutrality
Comcast, as Lynch said, is offering its own streaming service. Comcast’s service provides in-home streaming of live TV to computers, tablets, and phones without a set-top box. To consumers watching on devices at home, the service would appear to be similar to offerings from Netflix or Sling TV, but Comcast’s doesn’t count against customers’ data caps.
Lynch called this a net neutrality concern, and Sling could file a complaint against Comcast, but there’s a good chance the Federal Communications Commission wouldn’t side against the cable company. We’ve asked Sling if it plans a complaint but haven’t heard back yet.
(UPDATE: Sling owner Dish replied to Ars but did not say whether it plans to file a net neutrality complaint. Instead, Dish pointed out that it filed a petition to deny Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable last year. The acquisition was blocked by regulators.)
Comcast’s agreement to buy NBCUniversal requires it to treat its own traffic the same as competitors with regard to data caps. But Comcast notes that its streaming product “is an IP cable service delivered over our managed network to the home,” rather than a service delivered over the Internet.