
Back to All News
Open Connect: Celebrating a Decade of Smooth and Efficient Streaming
Gina Haspilaire
Vice President, Open Connect Partnerships and Planning Content Delivery
Innovation
14 December 2022
Global
The year is 2012: Netflix had just premiered Lilyhammer, our first original series, and expanded to Europe, launching in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Even in the early days of streaming, with 2.4 billion internet users worldwide and rapidly ballooning, it was clear that easy and flexible access to high-quality entertainment over the internet was soon going to become the norm.
In anticipation of this growing demand from consumers and in line with our long-term vision of entertaining the world, we knew we had to invest in our own global content delivery network - and that's how the Open Connect program was born. We developed an infrastructure that efficiently delivers quality entertainment to our members - no matter where they are around the world or what device they're watching on - in partnership with internet service providers (ISPs) worldwide.
How does it work and what does this mean for our members?
Every time a member presses play, we want them to have the best possible viewing experience with high definition and no lag. We build and install servers close to where our members are, so Netflix's shows and films are streamed from nearby, not from halfway around the world. To date we have 18,000 servers in 6,000 locations (and growing) across 175 countries. This reduces the load on networks, reducing traffic and costs for operators all around the world, which allows us to smoothly deliver fan favorites like Red Notice and Bridgerton seamlessly to members.
And what does it mean for our ISP partners?
Open Connect is built to collaborate with ISP partners around the globe. When we anticipate high streaming demand for popular content, Open Connect identifies the most efficient delivery route based on ISPs preferences, and ensures that the show or film is available on local servers ahead of time. So, even when demand is at its highest, members can be assured that they can access must-watch series like Squid Game and Stranger Things and join in real-time conversations around these global hits. This helps our ISP partners avoid paying extra fees for delivering content from a further distance. We estimate that in 2021 alone, the program helped ISPs to avoid $1.25 billion in spend, allowing the growing demand from consumers to be handled sustainably without having to build out additional network infrastructure over time. Additionally, our improved video compression technology means that Netflix now delivers content at half the bitrate of five years ago, lessening the load on all our networks.
What's next?
As we look to the next decade of Open Connect innovation, we want to thank our partners and look forward to an even closer collaboration to entertain people everywhere. Netflix continues to invest in must-watch, fan-favorite series and films, and we hope to see network improvements that meets consumer demands and that the internet remains open and free without tolls on content usage online - so that people can continue to enjoy great stories from around the world.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
21/04/2026
Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...
21/04/2026
Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...
21/04/2026
On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026
Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...
21/04/2026
London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...
21/04/2026
Motion Design Tools - April 2026
Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...
21/04/2026
Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Cinema 4D brings professional 3D workflows to iPad. The return of Autograph now free for individual users. ZBrush expands to Windows on Arm. See it all at NAB...
21/04/2026
Software version 1.6 extends enterprise functionality to place Buttons at the heart of media operations at any scale
Bitfocus, the Norwegian software develope...
21/04/2026
Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse Signal Processors for SDI and ST 2110 Workflows
Compact, multi-function stan...
21/04/2026
Applications open for 2026 AISF and Screen Australia Writer/Director Virtual Ses...
21/04/2026
Comscore Continues Building Momentum in Local Measurement Through New Agreements...
21/04/2026
Summer is nearly here and Super Garden is returning to our screens to spark some gardening inspiration. The new series kicks off on Thursday 23 April at 7pm on ...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Sony is showcasing a broad slate of innovations across liv...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Canon is doubling down on its commitment to live sports pr...
20/04/2026
Fujifilm is sharpening its focus on core broadcast production with a new wave of...
20/04/2026
This upcoming summer in North America is going to be a busy one. The 2026 FIFA M...
20/04/2026
Glookast (Booth W1661) announced a series of product updates at NAB Show 2026, c...
20/04/2026
Matrox Video and Amagi announced a collaboration to integrate the Matrox ORIGIN ...
20/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that the Asociaci n del F tbol Arg...
20/04/2026
Ikegami (Booth C3819) announced the VFE-P07D monocular OLED viewfinder at NAB Sh...
20/04/2026
International Association of MediaTech (IAMT), formerly known as IABM, announced...
20/04/2026
Harmonic (Booth W2831) announced that DIRECTV is updating its US direct-to-home (DTH) video platform using Harmonic's VOS Media Software.
The deployment is...
20/04/2026
Wasabi Technologies announced that it has acquired the Lyve Cloud business from Seagate Technology. As part of the agreement, Seagate received equity in Wasabi ...
20/04/2026
EVS (Booth N1841) has launched Choreon, a robotics controller for media producti...
20/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
20/04/2026
Skyline Communications announced the availability of its DataMiner xOps platform...
20/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (Booth N1129) introduced a set of new products at NAB S...
20/04/2026
Dell Technologies is showcasing its Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA at NAB Sho...
20/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced Fairlight Live, a software-based live audio mixer with SMPTE 2110 support and spatial audio mixing. A public beta is available n...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Imagine Communications VP of Sales, Sports an...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, LiveU Senior Director of Sales, Sports Philli...
20/04/2026
A song that perfectly captures a moment is magic. But when you uncover the story behind it, who made it, what inspired it, and the meaning woven into the lyrics...
20/04/2026
Ultra-compact 32-bit recorder set for launch
Deity Microphones will soon be launching a new 32-bit six-track recorder that's been designed with producti...