Netflix admits it lowers quality of mobile video on Verizon and AT&T

Netflix says that it has been throttling its video on wireless networks like AT&T and Verizon for over five years, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Netflix told The Journal that this practice, which lowers the quality of video streams, capping them at 600 kilobits-per-second, is meant to "protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps."

Netflix said that watching two hours of HD would use up to 6 gigabytes of data, The Journal reports.

Netflix does not, however, throttle T-Mobile or Sprint. It said this was because "historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies."

Netflix was not immediately available for comment.