According to a recent report from GigaOm, some Verizon broadband customers are finding that their Netflix streaming experiences have been getting worse lately.

The cause is a concept known as peering, where two Internet providers share their networks in order to better deliver content to users. 

Cogent, a broadband provider that delivers a significant portion of Netflix's content to Verizon's network, claims that Verizon has been letting the ports between their networks hit capacity. Like a pipe becoming clogged, this limits the rate at which content can get through.

Network World's Colin Neagle thinks that Verizon is intentionally hurting the Netflix user experience in order to help rival Redbox, in which it owns a 50% stake.

As he points out, this wouldn't be the first time an ISP has limited a rival in order to promote its own video service. In the past, AT&T and Comcast have put in place data caps for their customers that limited the use of Netflix while allowing for unlimited streaming from their respective services.