Netflix has agreed to temporarily reduce video quality of its streaming service in Europe, reducing bit rates for the next 30 days at the behest of the European Union in order to ease the load on internet networks in the region.
The move came after EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, in discussions with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, urged the company the company switch to standard-definition video to ease congestion on networks during the coronavirus pandemic
“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 said in a statement to Variety. “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 says streaming TV shows or movies on the service uses about 1 gigabyte of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video.
More to come