Video streaming giant, Netflix will be switching from high definition streaming to standard definition to manage the increased usage of Internet by people staying at home because of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
Netflix is acting on the request from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Netflix traffic accounts for a significant portion of the world’s bandwidth usage. According to a recent report as at the end of 2019, Netflix streaming makes up about 13% of overall internet traffic.
Currently Netflix automatically adjusts the quality of your videos based on your internet capacity, however you can also change it yourself in your account settings.
In response, Netflix agreed to the request. “Following the discussions between Commissioner Thierry Breton and [Netflix chief executive] Reed Hastings, and given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus, Netflix has decided to begin reducing bitrates across all our streams in Europe for 30 days,” the company said.
Netflix said lowering the picture quality would reduce Netflix data consumption by 25% but consumers will still find the picture quality good enough.
Mr Bretton praised Netflox for the prompt response.
Netflix has however not yet mentioned if this will apply to Africa and other regions.
In a related incident, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a call with reporters said Facebook’s services are facing “big surges” in usage as the coronavirus forces millions around the world to stay home.
He described the increase in demand as “well beyond” the main annual spike usually seen on New Year’s Eve. Voice and video calls on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, in particular, are more than double usual levels.
