UPDATED 21:48 EDT / JANUARY 06 2016

NEWS

VPN providers weep as Netflix goes global by expanding into 130 new countries

Much to the disdain of Virtual Private Network (VPN) operators everywhere, Netflix, Inc. announced Wednesday that it was expanding into 130 new countries, making the service truly global, with a few notable exceptions.

The announcement was made by Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and means that Netflix is now legally available in over 190 countries across the globe.

“Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network. With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting,” Hastings said. “With the help of the Internet, we are putting power in consumers’ hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device.”

The service will primarily be available in English; however, support for Arabic, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese is being added to the 17 languages Netflix already supports, with more to follow.

“From today onwards, we will listen and we will learn, gradually adding more languages, more content and more ways for people to engage with Netflix,” Hastings added. “We’re looking forward to bringing great stories from all over the world to people all over the world.”

While the new “Netflix Everywhere” move will see near total global access, the most notable exception on the list is China, where Netflix is yet to negotiate local regulations and licensing to be able to offer the service; however, the company said it is continuing to “explore options” in the Middle Kingdom.

Other countries/areas missing out are Crimea, North Korea and Syria due to U.S. government restrictions on where American companies are able to provide services.

VPN providers weep

It should be noted that while the move will see Netflix now legally available globally, countries where Netflix was not previously available saw many people access the service via VPN. For example, in Australia prior to Netflix’s local launch in 2015, it was estimated that some 684,000 households used a VPN to access blocked content from outside the country, with the majority of those households using it to access Netflix.

While there will still be demand for VPNs to access services such as Hulu outside the United States, many VPNs primarily sold themselves as a way to access Netflix, a benefit they no longer have, although there may still be some small demand given that the international version of Netflix has less content in it than the U.S. version.

If you’ve ever wanted to sign up to Netflix but live in a country that has not previously been serviced, simply go to Netflix.com, and a local page (be it in most markets in English) will appear with prices in your local currency, along with the ability to sign up for a one-month free trial.

Image credit: Netflix

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