Apple on Tuesday rolled out the latest generation of its set-top box and all I could think of was connectivity.
The device, dubbed Apple TV 4K, will cost $179 and be able to stream to TVs that offer double the vertical resolution and two times the horizontal resolution of high-definition models. It is said to be twice as fast as the version of Apple TV it succeeds, and features software that produces s0-called High Dynamic Range, which reportedly enhances color and contrast.
So far so good. But Apple TV, like all streaming media players, depends on a connection to the internet that in my neighborhood and many others struggles to support speeds that can allow video to stream smoothly.
I am currently able to download from the internet at about 260 megabits per second via my connection to the cable network. (The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband for so-called fixed wireline services as download speeds of 25 mbps and upload speeds of 3 mbps.)
My connection, through Charter Communications, a cable company, slows during periods of peak demand. Which means news and sports streamed at those times or that demand a lot of data – such as a State of the Union address or a Premier League soccer game – can appear with glitches.
Part of the problem ties to a lack of competition in broadband. About one-third (36%) of households in urban areas had access to at least two providers of broadband, as of the end of 2015, data from the FCC shows. (The percentage falls to only 6% in rural areas.) Absent competition, providers lack incentive to up the speeds they offer.
The neighborhood in New York City where I live has one provider. The city is suing Verizon, a rival, for allegedly failing to keep its promise to provide high-speed internet service to every household in the city.
In the meantime, the lack of a competitor leaves many of us with a choice: subscribe to cable for video or cut the cord and put up with video that starts and stops during telecasts that demand a comparatively fast connection in order to stream smoothly.
All of which starts to show why rules of competition in broadband matter. The FCC is expected to vote as soon as October on a proposal to do away protections for so-called net neutrality, which prevents cable companies and other internet service providers from blocking or choking traffic.
The agency’s current chairman opposes net neutrality, which he says is tantamount to regulating the internet. But as Tom Wheeler, his predecessor has noted, net neutrality sets “ground rules for the people who deliver the internet.” Doing away with the rules leaves consumers at risk of their internet service provider favoring content that benefits its business. To their credit (and to protect their businesses), Apple, Facebook and other tech giants have urged the FCC to keep the safeguards in place.
The latest set-top box from Apple suggests the tech industry will continue to improve the experience of watching video. But the promise of those devices will turn on whether the internet speeds up, not slows down.