Industry news

A BBC chief enters the iPlayer row

The BBC's internet chief has warned internet service providers (ISPs) not to try and charge content providers.

Ashley Highfield wrote in his blog that "unlimited broadband should mean unlimited".

He entered the row that began last year when ISPs complained that the BBC's iPlayer – the BBC's online service allowing viewers to download and watch TV programmes – was causing extra traffic.

Many providers believed that the broadcaster should foot the bill for extra bandwidth its users would be using.

"ISPs are already charging their customers for broadband to receive any content they want. [They] should be clearer in their marketing," Mr Highfield wrote.

"Content providers that find their content being specifically squeezed, shaped or capped could start to indicate on their sites which ISPs their content worked best on and which to avoid."

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme this morning, Tiscali's strategy head Simon Gunter suggested the BBC should cover some of the costs incurred by internet companies as a result of TV on-demand services.