It didn’t take Netflix long to respond to the controversy. In response to the European Commission, the video-on-demand platform has decided to take measures to avoid congestion on the Internet due to overuse of its service as the coronavirus pandemic nails Europeans at home.
“Following discussions between Thierry Breton and Reed Hastings, Netflix has decided to reduce its throughput on all of its flows in Europe for a period of 30 days. According to our estimates, this represents a drop of around 25% in traffic, while maintaining quality service for our subscribers ”, says a spokesperson for Netflix.
To reduce traffic without (too much) penalizing the consumer, Netflix will, for example, avoid using very high definition (4K) as much as it does today. Across Europe, telecom operators have told the government that networks are saturated.
Discussions brought to the highest level
In France, if within the cabinet of Cédric O, Secretary of State for Digital, we explain not having entered ” Red zone “ which would endanger the networks, we remain attentive to the general increase in fixed and mobile traffic.
Among the measures, discussions have been initiated with Internet giants, such as Netflix, Facebook, YouTube or Disney. “Shouldn’t Disney postpone the launch of Disney + for a week or two, or at least take steps to avoid bottlenecks?” “, they say in the minister’s office. Until Wednesday March 19, the American group confirmed the launch of its video service on March 24. Contacted Thursday, he no longer responded to requests from the World.
Some discussions have gone back to the highest European level, up to Thierry Breton. “Streaming platforms, telecom operators and users, we all have a shared responsibility to take steps to keep the Internet running smoothly while fighting the spread of the virus”, pleaded the European Commissioner for the internal market on Wednesday 18 March.
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