In 2022, “54% of the traffic to customers” of the main Internet service providers in France “comes from five players: Netflix, Google, Akamai, Meta and Amazon”, according to the annual report on the state of the Internet in France, as a consequence of the boom in the consumption of catalog films and subscription series, catch up tv and videos on social networks.
This significant consumption of the resources of the French network is also embodied by Google (10.5%), Meta (8.2%) and Amazon (7%), according to data from Arcep.
Optimize compression formats
The need to reduce data consumption has led several of these players, such as Netflix, to equip themselves with their own distribution infrastructure, to bring their content closer to users and optimize compression formats.
“Our movies and series drive demand for operator networks and services, and we cooperate to optimize traffic and minimize its impact on the network. We now have more than 75 peering points in France in partnership with operators,” a Netflix spokesperson told AFP.
Increased Internet traffic
However, overall internet traffic in France continues to rise, reaching 43.2 terabits per second by the end of 2022, up 21.5% year-on-year, according to Arcep.
The situation prompted the European Commission to launch a broad public consultation on the issue in February, as telecom operators advocated for a “fair share” from streaming and internet giants to finance the expensive network infrastructure needed to adapt to the pandemic. exponential demand.
The affected content providers consider, on the contrary, that the operators are already paid by their customers, and certain European associations for the defense of digital rights are concerned about an impact on net neutrality. This principle, enshrined in European Union legislation in 2016, guarantees equal treatment and routing of all information flows on the Internet.
Source: BFM TV
