Is Verizon Building A Netflix Competitor?

Sites include Netflix.com , Verizon.com . Published on January 27th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

The streaming movie and DVD rental business has proven so successful that every man and his dog it seems now wants a piece of the action. Netflix of course, had first movers advantage, but with top tech and telecoms companies looking on, it has been very hard to maintain that advantage.

The first barbarian at Netflix’s gate was Amazon who launched fiercely with LoveFilm.com, now it seems another is poised at the gate, ready to launch an attack and knock Netflix off its perch. That would-be competitor is Verizon, the US telecoms giant who reportedly bought a slew of online properties (mainly domain names) that suggests that it is looking to setup shop in the streaming movie and DVD rental space.

Verizon registered Verizoninstantmovies.com, and Verizoninstantmusic.com; suggesting that a play in the space might be imminent. You’ll recall of course that Verizon did flirt with the idea of acquiring Netflix some time ago. Such an acquisition, given the growth and potential worth of Netflix today perhaps wouldn’t be feasible for Verizon—and the owners of Netflix would also have to be willing to sell, something I can’t see happening anytime soon.

For now we’ll just have to sit back and watch the gladiators do battle. I am betting on Netflix though, the years spent honing the streaming and renting of movies makes it a fierce competitor and knocking it off won’t be easy.

Is Verizon wasting its time trying to compete with Netflix? Share your thoughts below.