On one side of Net Neutrality is Netflix. On the other side is AT&T and Verizon. Netflix has an extremely powerful foe in these two companies. In 2013, AT&T and Verizon generated $20B in profits, and have 230M wireless customers. Netflix doesn’t stand a chance against them; for they have the capital, political connections, and every tool at their disposal to crush Netflix into submission. The recent court decision displays the power they have over the court system. Poor Netflix, it seems futile fighting against AT&T and Verizon. However, it’s not futile. AT&T and Verizon have something that is very dear to their heart, but is also a weakness; and that weakness is staring Netflix right in the face.
Netflix can strike back hard, and go after their sweet spot, the wireless customer; and in the process create chaos in one of the most profitable industries ever. However, it will need the help of Google on this one. Google is a cool company; they’ll take on anyone, anytime, anywhere. They are not afraid of no one; disrupting markets is in their blood, engrained in there DNA. Together, Netflix and Google can create utter chaos in the wireless market, and re-write history.
Netflix Disrupts the Wireless Market
Google and Netflix can thank WhatsApp for this idea. WhatsApp is the great American dream. They proved that even a small company with few employees, and only $8M in funding, can disrupt a trillion dollar industry that bypasses all of the world’s telecoms. Netflix and Google just need to take it a step further, and create a mobile app and Android tablet, that bypass AT&T and Verizon entirely, that runs only on Wifi. Google would need to fund the deployment of a few more wireless hotspots around the nation, but it will be able to gain an incredible amount of users. The heart of the system can be based on WebRTC, that allows users to share text, images, videos, chat, and talk, bypassing the wireless network.
Why in the world would people want to buy this product since wifi isn’t everywhere? Because the customer would only have to pay one fee for the tablet, that’s it, no more monthly wireless fees. Customers now have the option to bypass AT&T and Verizon completely. If Netflix and Google sign up 20M of the 230M wireless AT&T and Verizon customers, AT&T and Verizon will lose billions of dollars annually. If 100M wireless customers sign up for the new product, history will be re-written, and this will go down as the most disruptive technology ever.