Google Fiber stands behind Netflix in broadband battle grounds

At least Google Fiber users will never have to worry about Netflix buffering

The new FCC net neutrality decision is kicking up old arguments whether internet service providers should be allowed to charge for paid prioritization. While most ISPs would rally for the end of net neutrality, Google Fiber says it wants to protect equal internet access.

In a chest beating blog post, the Google Fiber team wrote that it does not charge its customers or content providers for buffer-free video delivery.

Instead the Fiber division invited all content providers to hook up their networks directly to Google's in a process that's known as peering. In short peering gives viewers a more direct connection to online videos, letting them see it faster and in higher quality.

'This doesn't involve any deals to prioritize their video 'packets' over others or otherwise discriminate among Internet traffic - we don't do that,' the Fiber division wrote in the same blog post.

Although the blog post does not call out any specific companies, we can quickly think of a few ISPs that would love to charge for quicker content delivery like Verizion and Comcast.

The free expressway

To highlight what free peering can do, the Fiber devision used Netflix as a specific example with severs placed within its facilities so that users can send out video requests faster.

Without peering a user clicking on the video would have to wait for the signal to travel from their home though their ISP and to the nearest Netflix center. A roundtrip that the Fiber team claims could be hundreds or thousands of miles in length.

Netflix isn't the only service that Google Fiber gives free server space to, the small ISP also said it has partnered with YouTube and Akamai to make everyone's video journey shorter and faster.

A big fish in a small pond

It's a bold statement coming from an ISP as young as Google Fiber, but it's questionable how much of an impact its free peering service can have since Google's internet service is still so small.

Even if the service tries to be progressive, most of Americans will never get the benefits unless they live in the few states with Google Fiber operates including Kansas City, Provo in Utah, and Austin, Texas.