COVID-19 to Hit Internet? Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Asked by Indian Telcos to Stop High Definition
The telcos, apart from issuing an appeal to the OTT service providers, have also moved an application to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) -- a government regulatory body -- seeking its intervention to ensure the stability of the current infrastructure to provide internet services.
New Delhi, March 24: The Indian telecom operators have appealed YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime and other over-the-top (OTT) media platforms to stop high definition video facilities for their users. Their request stems from the increasing pressure of India's internet bandwidth, as companies have asked their employees to work from home amid the coronavirus lockdown. Stay tuned here for the live news updates on coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.
With the lockdown and curfews imposed in most parts of the nation, more number of people are using the internet -- particularly the video-streaming platforms. The Cellular Operations Association of India appealed the OTT platforms to cut down on the quality of their streaming services as the existing telecom infrastructure has been pushed to its limit.
The telcos, apart from issuing an appeal to the OTT service providers, have also moved an application to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) -- a government regulatory body -- seeking its intervention to ensure the stability of the current infrastructure to provide internet services.
"TSPs are taking requisite steps to manage this load and facilitate the smooth functioning of the networks during this critical time," the COAI was reported as saying, adding that the DoT should ensure that the OTTs take measures similar to what they have taken in "Europe and the US".
The European Union nations had, earlier this month, asked the streaming service providers to cut down on their quality citing the pressure on the internet bandwidth. Subsequently, Netflix announced a reduction in its traffic in Europe by 25 percent, whereas, YouTube kept 480p as the default viewing option for the users.
According to experts, an hour of streaming videos in HD quality uses 3GB of data. If the same is viewed in standard definition, the internet usage would be around 1GB. If Netflix, Amazon Prime and other OTT apps reduce the quality of videos, it would be come as a huge relief for the stressed Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 24, 2020 07:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).