It was reported yesterday that the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had written to over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms requesting them to temporarily move to SD (Standard Definition) rather than HD (High Definition) streaming. As a response, Netflix has announced that it is lowering video quality in India for the next 30 days. The move has been taken by the streaming company to reduce network traffic. The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has led to an increased need for internet services as people have been advised to isolate themselves at home.
According to Netflix, this will not affect the video resolution so you will still get HD and 4K quality depending on the plan you have paid for. The company is lowering bitrates which is expected to cut traffic by 25 percent. A similar change was implemented by the company in Europe last week.
“Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 percent while also maintaining the quality of our service. Consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan, whether it's ultra-high, high- or standard-definition. We believe that this will provide significant relief to congested networks and will be deploying it in India for the next 30 days,” said Netflix's VP of content delivery, Ken Florance in a statement.
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As of now, Netflix is the only streaming platform that has pledged to make changes to its service so as to help in reducing internet traffic in India. A majority of Indians have been using Netflix’s mobile plan priced at Rs 199 that streams only in standard-definition (SD) on their mobile phones. Even Hotstar, which is one of the most popular OTT players in India said that most of its users are streaming at SD since they are on the basic ad-supported tier.
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