Netflix and LG are collaborating to offer prepaid Netflix access around the world

Netflix is just starting its CES 2016 keynote, a speech that’s set to focus on the mammoth international expansion the company has planned for this year. LG is going to be a big part of that expansion: it’s partnering with Netflix to help the company’s expansion efforts into new markets — think Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe — by offering prepaid access to Netflix. It’s still unclear exactly how this prepaid initiative will work, but it’s easy to imagine a scenario in which people can pay a lump sum for a year of Netflix instead of having monthly charges applied to a credit card. It’s a proposition that doesn’t make as much sense in Netflix’s existing, credit-saturated markets, but it could ease the service’s entry into countries where credit cards and monthly subscriptions aren’t as prevalent.