INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hours after the EU called on telecom and streaming service providers to help reduce network congestion during the coronavirus pandemic,
Services] Commissioner Thierry Breton and Reed Hastings - and given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus - Netflix has
decided to begin reducing bit rates across all our streams in Europe for 30 days," the company said in a statement.The overall reduction in
and 2.55 GB per hour of streamed HD video.Netflix says some users will experience a decrease in video quality while others might not, though
That said, for those who want to do more, the European Commission is encouraging users to switch to standard definition when HD and 4K
to make to reduce network congestion as more people work from home and self-quarantine.Thankfully, the European Commission says that no
outages or adverse affects have so far been reported but it says that the reduction in bitrate and actions like it could prevent issues from
arising as more members of the population turn to streaming video for entertainment.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday that the
site is seeing a big spike in traffic due to the coronavirus and says the same is true for its apps, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger
outside Europe won't see a reduction in streaming quality but this situation does provide a warning of what could come if the coronavirus
