A South Korean internet service provider, SK Broadband is suing Netflix following the surge of viewers on their new show Squid Game after the audience was large enough to increase costs on network traffic and maintenance.
A Seoul court said that the US streaming platform should “reasonably” offer something to the internet provider for the huge increase in network usage. Several South Korean lawmakers have jumped on board to suggest that any network users benefitting from such traffic surges should pay their fair share.
Naturally, thrilled with their hit show, Netflix said it was keen to begin a dialogue with SK Broadband to solve the issue amicably and ensure that traffic and the network continue to be maintained for users.
The series confirmed Netflix as the country’s second-largest traffic generator after YouTube but also highlighted the two giants lack of contribution to network usage fees, while other content providers such as Amazon, Apple and Facebook all share some cost.
Data traffic handled by SK for the streaming platform jumped to 1.2 trillion bits of data processed per second as of September, SK confirmed.
With the huge success of Squid Game highlighting the huge market South Korea offers Netflix, there is a good chance this case will be settled rather quickly. Netflix will continue to work alongside SK in the meantime to minimise disruption.
For now, check out what all the fuss is about with the Squid Game trailer below.
