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We're BFFs AGAIN, say AT&T and Netflix after penning peering pact

Netflix customers rejoice - endless TV to numb pain of existence will arrive fast

Netflix has agreed to a network peering deal with AT&T.

The two firms said in a joint statement that they have inked an agreement which will provide better connections between the Netflix service and AT&T's own network, confirming an earlier report from Mashable.

"We reached an interconnect agreement with AT&T in May and since then have been working together to provision additional interconnect capacity to improve the viewing experience of our mutual subscribers," a Netflix spokesperson told El Reg.

"We're now beginning to turn up the connections, a process that should be complete in the coming days."

The interconnect agreement will help to improve video performance by providing a direct pipeline between the two services and reducing possible bottlenecks slowing video delivery.

The deal will be a welcome relief for AT&T customers, the company's U-Verse and DSL services had been ranked among the worst on Netflix's ISP speed index with U-verse ranking 13th and AT&T DSL ranking 15th of 16 carriers.

AT&T has been among the ISPs who have gotten into public spats with Netflix over the delivery of its service to end-users. In March, the two companies traded barbs over who should be responsible for ensuring the quality of Netflix content. The video service had accused ISPs of violating net neutrality by trying to force peering deals, while AT&T said that it should not have to foot the bill to improve Netflix's content.

Netflix has had a similar debate with Verizon over its interconnects with each side claiming that the other is responsible for poor video performance. ®

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