Netflix and YouTube move to reduce the amount of bandwidth consumed in Europe so the internet doesn’t collapse into itself.
The two digital platforms have decided to temporarily reduce video quality in Europe for at least the next month due unprecedented usage amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25% while also ensuring a good quality service for our members,” Netflix said in a statement.
“[W]e are making a commitment to temporarily switch all traffic in the EU to standard definition by default,” YouTube said in a statement. “While we have seen only a few usage peaks, we have measures in place to automatically adjust our system to use less network capacity.”
Netflix boasts a reported 51.8 million paid subscribers as of the end of 2019 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which represents 31% of its worldwide customer base.
