Net Neutrality: A Case Study With JetBlue and Amazon

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If you have taken a flight recently on JetBlue Airways, you might have noticed something that looks a lot like a network neutrality boogeyman: prioritization of Amazon’s videos over other services, such as Netflix or HBO, on the airline’s in-flight Wi-Fi network. It actually isn’t a violation of net neutrality, which requires all web traffic to be treated equally. But it helps explain why some fear lifting such rules will harm the internet, and why others aren’t worried at all.

Net neutrality has never applied to in-flight Wi-Fi. The FCC specifically exempted businesses such as airlines, coffee shops and hotels because they simply offer internet access to their customers as a perk. JetBlue is among the first U.S. airlines to use a new satellite service that delivers real high-speed internet on airplanes. Speeds are similar to what one might get with a strong LTE connection on a smartphone in a city. Amazon optimizes its videos on JetBlue flights so it doesn’t use up so much bandwidth. Typically, that means subtly reducing the picture quality so it is less data-intensive. It also modified its video stream to better handle the time it takes for the signals to traverse the satellites that carry the traffic. This sort of optimization is similar to what T-Mobile US Inc. did with all video on its wireless network. Videos stream at a lower picture quality—which is difficult to notice on a small smartphone screen—but they don’t count against a customer’s data limit.


Net Neutrality: A Case Study With JetBlue and Amazon