The European Union has asked that COVID-19 has prompted many governments to lock countries down and more people are staying home than ever before, something that directly translates to increased internet usage.
The pandemic has hit the entertainment industry hard, but streaming services are experiencing unprecedented levels of engagement as persons seek distractions in various forms. A number of TV shows have been postponed with stalled amid coronavirus concerns - season 2 star Kristofer Hivju has confirmed having contracted the respiratory disease.
Of course, there's no end of content to stream from the platform and, per CNN, the EU is apprehensive over the possibility of the internet cracking under the strain brought about by the spike. On Wednesday evening, EU internal market Commissioner Thierry Breton posted a tweet in which he claimed he'd spoken to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about the issue, also asking fans to "#SwitchtoStandard definition when HD is not necessary." Breton has since followed that up with a statement citing the need for all citizens to take steps to "ensure the smooth functioning of the internet during the battle against the virus propagation."
CNN says a Netflix spokesperson has informed that Hastings and Breton will have further discussion on Thursday, adding that the latter is correct in his pointing out of how important it is for the internet to keep running at optimal standards. The streaming giants claim they already adjust streaming quality based on the available capacity of networks while employing a special delivery network that promotes lower bandwidth consumption by keeping its content closer to s. Telecom operators have shown for Breton's recommendations and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has itted that the social media platform is being stretched to the limit.
Despite the concerns, the increase in internet use hasn't caused any outages so far. In response and in opposition to Breton's claims, a Call of Duty: Warzone and Champions League streaming were noted being chiefly responsible for spikes in Manchester last week; increases in places like Italy and Spain weren't shown to be high enough to cause problems. While evidence suggesting the internet could break is still scant, there's hardly any discomfort in sacrificing HD viewing to ensure things run smoothly while we all remain dependent on its existence - even more so in light of current circumstances.
Source: CNN