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Is your ISP HD-rated?

It seems that Google has issued an "HD Verified" status to several NZ ISPs.

What exactly does this mean?

Well, despite the hype and prestige that appear to be associated with this certification, I'm picking that it's more about mutual backscratching than anything.

According to the official blurb, HD verification simply means that you can watch 720p or higher videos and get "smooth playback most of the time".

"Most of the time"?

That sounds like an awfully subjective definition to me.

Is 51% of the time "most of the time?"

Well elsewhere on the same official page they do claim "The ratings represent the video streaming quality you can expect (at least 90% of the time) when you watch YouTube on an Internet Service Provider in a specific area". So why say "most" if you really mean 90% - or why say 90% if you simply mean "most"?

To be honest, I wouldn't place too much emphasis on this "verification".

I would expect that even the crappiest ISP might be able to deliver reasonable YouTube performance for 51% of the time -- but still collapse into a screaming heap of dog-do in the early to mid evening when every man and is animal are trying to use the Net.

Not unsurprisingly, here in NZ it's the UFB providers who are claiming a presence on the list of HD verified ISPs but one must wonder how long they will retain that position as uptake of UFB increases, placing more pressure on backhaul bandwidth.

Then there is the potential for bottlenecking in the Southern Cross Cable (SCC).

Once more NZers wake up to the fact that FTA and Satellite TV are "so last century", the amount of HD video traffic flowing into this country via it's primary international connection may have some very significant impact on the performance of that connection.

Of course Telecom's own net-based TV service may be the start of a shift in the way we access HD TV over the Net.

Instead of signing up for services such as NetFlix or AppleTV, NZers may find themselves talking to local servers -- in much the same way our TV broadcasts are localised.

Instead of all this content flowing through the SCC in real-time, Net-broadcasters such as Telecom may operate in the same way as Sky and other TV services by importing a single copy and then rebroadcasting from a local source.

Of course if/when that happens, those who presently subscribe to Netflix and the like, using VPNs or other methods of dodging the geo-walling that are often in place, may find that they have a much harder time "buying direct". Just as Sky TV has purchased the exclusive rights to deliver certain content to NZers, new Net-broadcasters will likely do the same with their content. These companies will probably also lobby government to provide greater levels of legal protection and, because some (like Telecom) will also be ISPs, there may be a measure of deep-packet inspection implemented to identify and deal-to those who try to import direct over the Net.

Right now we live in an era where the Net is still (largely) freely available to us all. Sadly, I suspect that the rise of Net-based TV services will see much of that freedom removed -- in the name of profit on the part of ISPs and Net-broadcasters.

Enjoy it while you can.

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