Customers face higher internet bills thanks to video download sites

Tiscali say content providers should help build network infrastructure to cope with new demand

10 January 2008 10:20 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Tiscali has raised concerns that if consumer electronics companies don't help fund the infrastructure for their internet-enabled devices consumers will have to be prepared to pay the price.

The comments come as the industry announces device after device that offer content via the Internet at CES in Las Vegas.

"It should be a concern for all broadband customers", said Jody Haskayne, director of PR & Communications at Tiscali. "We don't want to have to foot the bill. Companies need to acknowledge there is a cost to providing the platform. When we look to invest in expanding the network's capabilities we will have to increase prices."

The broadband provider, who owns its own on-demand service HomeChoice, is worried it will get the blame if services like the BBC's iPlayer and Channel 4's 4oD service take off and then fail to work when its customers try to access them.

"We've already had calls to our support line asking why, when there is an outage, users can't get WebTV. They blame us rather than the content provider. The problem with IPTV and movie download sites is that we don't know where the next spike will come from. The entire network has to be upgraded rather than specific pockets to meet with demand", commented Jody.

Applications like Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's Xbox Live video marketplace, DivX's Stage 6 website and YouTube are likely to push demand and the Internet to its limit over the next few years.

The Xbox Live video marketplace for example allows you to download HD content straight to your telly via the Internet with file sizes in the region of a couple of gigabytes.

Until recently excluding the minority of internet users who play video games online, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have only had to worry about static pages or music downloads with the average web page only a couple of kilobytes and a song only a couple of megabytes, it hasn't been an issue.

But with bigger files being accessed, the move to offer more video and images online the strain it appears, is starting to show.

"There is going to be an explosion of Internet-enabled devices around the home", one tech journalist told us. "Everything from TVs to games consoles, and even your kitchen appliances will promise web access."

The solution? Tiscali wants a "grown-up conversation" about it with content providers to create a business model that is beneficial to all parties not just the content creator.

Its argument is that there is no other broadcast medium that you can publish on for free, as licences always have to be paid, or in the case of magazines, distribution paid to the likes of WHSmith.

"It looks like the consumers are going to be the ones that will end up paying the most", one content producer told us. "Perhaps Tiscali should invest in our shows so we can create more content to make the Internet an even more compelling place to want to access."

In the US, some ISPs have suggested moving to a similar model to Sky's satellite package in the UK, whereby you pay according to what kinds of sites you access.

Customers who only want to view static pages can opt for the cheapest option, while those hungry to consume video and play online games pay a different tiered price, however many commentators believe such a model wouldn't fair well with consumers who believe the Internet should be free to everyone whatever site you are visiting.

More worrying for ISPs is that according to a recent Ofcom report, it estimated that for the average broadband customer, using the proposed internet-based services(sic iPlayer) would involve downloading an additional 3GB of data per month.

According to Ofcom it anticipates the costs of the broadband capacity required to support the services could in aggregate be between £399 million and £831 million over the next 5 years stating that "Some customers may nevertheless have to move to a more expensive broadband package in order to be able to use the BBC services".

You can watch Pocket-lint's very own IPTV offering at Megawhat.tv