Netflix will reduce streaming quality in Europe to avoid network congestion

So what do you do when you’re stuck indoors, with an internet connection? Obviously starting to stream movies from Netflix. But because everyone thinks so, many people express concerns that the internet infrastructure may not be able to withstand traffic from Netflix and lead to widespread network outages. Fortunately, this issue has been resolved, at least starting next month.

Earlier this week, the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Market Thierry Breton, posted on Twitter that he had a discussion with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about the issue. Specifically, Breton suggested that Netflix should shift the streaming content of this service in Europe to quality and SD resolution, instead of HD resolution that is widely used by many people today. The Netflix website states that each of their SD content typically consumes about 1GB of data per hour. Meanwhile, each HD content will use 3GB of data per hour. Breton is concerned that if every Netflix user streams the movie while stuck at home, the internet may be overwhelmed, especially when besides watching movies, there are many others who use the internet to work remotely.

And it seems that Netflix will make some changes to meet the EU’s proposal, preventing the internet from falling into chaos in this crisis time. In a statement today, the company confirmed it will reduce bit rates in Europe over the next 30 days. Netflix claims its move will help cut internet traffic used in Europe by up to 25%. It’s unclear how this change will affect the quality of Netflix videos for users on the continent.

While Netflix’s work may solve some of the problems that exist in Europe’s internet infrastructure, it’s likely that more and more people are using Netflix in the US and other parts of the world. lead to similar problems. According to actual data from research firm Sandvine, this streaming service now accounts for more than 12% of global download traffic.

Reference: AndroidAuthority