From today, Europeans who sign up for the first time to the content-streaming website Netflix will be paying a higher rate of €7.99 per month, up from €6.99 since it was first launched in Ireland.
The price increase has been in the pipeline since the company announced its intentions following its latest financial report at the end of April but now new users will have to pay that little bit extra to cover the company’s increased costs. Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings explained the increase: “These changes will enable us to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience.”
Current customers can rest that little bit easier in the knowledge that their agreed price plan of €6.99 won’t be changing for two years, but upon that later date, the €7.99 charge will come into being, if they haven’t already agreed another price hike.
However, for Irish users who have signed up since January this year, they have essentially seen their monthly rated raised by €2 per month as Ireland was used as a test-bed for the increased international rate of €7.99 but the affected users have been emailed this week to be informed that their price is, in fact, not going to remain the same price as everyone else, but will actually increase by a further euro to €8.99.
The company have also confirmed that they are looking to increase their pricing options for users to include a more streamlined budget option that will limit the user to only watching on one screen at a time and have no 4K capability, somewhat controversially, at the older rate.
Netflix are considerably wary of the recent proposals in the US to create a two-stream internet where users and companies would be required to pay extra for a faster and better internet service through providers such as Verizon and Comcast, and its enactment could see costs raise considerably for the company.
Updated 12 May 2014:
This article has been updated after we were contacted by an Irish Netflix subscriber who informed us of the €8.99 rate for subscribers who have joined since this year, having received an email from the company this week.
