Netflix to Cut Streaming Quality in Europe to Help Ease Network Congestion

Netflix has announced that it will cut streaming quality for customers in Europe to help ease network congestion in the region.

As the coronavirus spreads, more communities are self isolating leading to an increase in network traffic. People are using the Internet to work from home, to entertainment themselves, and to communicate with loved ones.

"Following the discussions between 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," a Netflix spokesperson told Business Insider in an email. "We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25 percent while also ensuring a good quality service for our members."


Despite EU Commissioner Thierry Breton's concerns, Akamai CEO Tom Leighton says he isn't worried about the additional traffic. The company is seeing 50% more web traffic than average but says systems are running normally. For now, the worst that can happen to the internet is that "it just wouldn't perform as well," Leighton said.

Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for updates.

Read More