Internet Connected TVs Will Break The Internet, Analyst Warns

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Disclaimer, I’m highly skeptical of this story. We’ve been seeing these “Oh my god, the internet is almost out of bandwidth stories” for five years, and all them seem to discount the fact that the United States has massive amounts of dark fiber in the infrastructure that has let to be ‘lit-up’. Regardless, here we go. DisplaySearch director Paul Gary warns that if every internet-connected HDTV produced by manufacturers was used, it would seriously strain the internet infrastructure. Oh boy.

According to SlashGear, Gary writes:

“The looming risk now is what happens if every connected TV gets used. With Netflix accounting for 20-percent of peak internet traffic in the US, it’s reasonable to ask if the infrastructure can cope. Set makers need to understand that broadband access does not scale endlessly like broadcast reception.”

I supposed this is related to the ongoing net neutrality debate, where some anti-net neutrality folks (like the late Senator Ted Stevens) have argued saying that “walled gardens” are needed on the Internet because without if the internet were to continue to be used the way it is now, it would cause a massive strain on the infrastructure and eventually collapse.

Even tech blog SlashGear seems to believe Gary’s fear mongering, Chris Davies writing:

The issue is only likely to become more pressing, as companies switch to streaming technologies – as with Netflix – versus one-time downloads. The revised Apple TV, for instances shifted Apple’s focus solely to streaming content.

During the dot-com boom, however, ISPs laid massive fiber networks across the United States. After the bubble went bust, there was a decrease in demand for that fiber. Right now, we’ve got plenty of dark fiber in the United States that has yet to be activated. It is the opinion of this writer that crying foul about internet-connected HDTVs is just counter-productive. Internet-connected HDTVs are the future, by scaring manufacturers and consumers out of using them is just stopping innovation.