The fact that many people should now stay at home inevitably means that entertainment services such as Netflix and YouTube are used more. In order not to overload the entire network, but not to have to switch it off completely, the first measures are now being implemented in Europe.
As Netflix and Google have announced, the video quality will be reduced by 25 percent or to standard quality by default. For Netflix, this is initially for 30 days, with Netflix emphasizing that the overall streaming experience will continue to be satisfactory for most.
"After talking to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and considering the extraordinary challenges that come with the corona virus, Netflix has decided to reduce the bit rates in all of our streams in Europe for 30 days."
Youtube with similar measures
Youtube also lowers the video quality of its streams in order not to burden ISPs unnecessarily. Video content currently makes up the largest amount of data on the Internet, which is why you try to do something here.
"We are committed to temporarily switching all data traffic in the EU to the standard definition."
How long Google wants to maintain this measure is not known.
