South Korean Internet service provider sues Netflix over traffic surge

South Korean Internet service provider SK Broadband sued Netflix due to the increasing network traffic resulting from the popularity of South Korean TV shows on the platform. The company demands that Netflix pay for associated maintenance costs which resulted from the traffic surge.

According to Reuters, SK Broadband decided to take this move after lawmakers spoke out against content providers who do not pay for network usage despite generating explosive traffic. A Seoul court also stated that Netflix should "reasonably" give something in return to the Internet service provider for network usage.

SK estimated that the network usage fee Netflix needs to pay was about 27.2 billion won ($22.9 million) in 2020 alone, the court document said.

SK also reported that Netflix's data traffic handled by them jumped 24 times from May 2018 to 1.2 trillion bits of data processed per second as of September. Netflix has been using SK’s broadband to deliver data-heavy and high-definition video content to viewers in South Korea from servers in Japan and Hong Kong since 2018. 

“We will review the claim that SK Broadband has filed against us. In the meantime, we continue to seek open dialogue and explore ways of working with SK Broadband in order to ensure a seamless streaming experience for our shared customers,” said a Netflix spokesperson, as reported by TechCrunch. 

“Squid Game” and “D.P” are cited as the TV shows that contribute to this situation. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that “Squid Game” is considered as Netflix’s most popular show as of now. Within four days of release, the show managed to top Netflix’s US chart. 

In the US, Netflix has been paying a fee to broadband provider Comcast Corp for over seven years for faster streaming speeds.

Netflix is now considered as the second-largest data traffic generator in South Korea after YouTube - both platforms do not pay network usage fees. Other content providers, such as Amazon, Apple and Facebook, however, are paying such fees, according to SK.