Self-isolation, social withdrawal and quarantine caused by the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) is forcing increasing numbers of people to turn to the internet for activities that used to be done offline: work, learning, healthcare, or just for fun.
This puts pressure on network infrastructure and services as they struggle to keep up with the growing demand. However, some experts believe that the network infrastructure should be able to withstand this sudden increase in demand for the Internet.
At this time, the activities that occupy the highest bandwidth are related to video streaming services provided by companies like YouTube, Netflix, Twitch, Prime Video and others, noted the sudden increase in and comment that the frequency of these services is likely to cause congestion and poor performance on the network.
Before that YouTube and Netflix have decided to act to prevent possible congestion problems on the Internet.
In fact, according to a report presented in 2019 by the Sandvine studio firm, consumption of video content on the Internet has represented more than 60% of the total volume of downstream traffic, YouTube and Netflix together account for about 21% of this total volume.
In parallel, a study from the Nielsen site shows that the fact that people stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to an increase of almost 60% in the amount of content they see in certain cases and potentially more depending on the reasons.
Streaming services like Disney Plus, Netflix, Hulu, and other forms of streaming entertainment, including online games, will grow as people stay home for a long time.
In a blog post, Cloudflare noted that the zero point of propagation coronavirus in the United States has seen an increase of around 40% in internet use since the beginning of the crisis. Major internet exchanges in cities such as Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt experienced a traffic spike of 10-20% since March 9.
Netflix mobilizes to avoid congestion
It is in this context that CNBC reported that an emissary from the European Union recently met with Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix. The discussion centered on possible solutions to alleviate the extreme demand of the Internet for essential services, in view of the current health crisis.
The European Commissioner responsible for the digital market and the internal market, Thierry Breton, highlighted the importance of maintaining the proper functioning of the Internet, especially in times of a coronavirus pandemic and permanent isolation of people.
He appealed to everyone's sense of responsibility through a tweet in which he recommended that everyone prioritize SD screen resolution as much as possible during their video game sessions or take advantage of multimedia content available online.
During this exchange, it was mainly a new functionality that would automatically lower the resolution on the user side (and by extension, the bit rate) to standard definition in times of high internet usage. Netflix subsequently confirmed to the Numerama website that it would limit the quality of its broadcasts in Europe for 30 days.
“Following discussions between Thierry Breton and Reed Hastings, and given the unprecedented challenges related to the spread of the coronavirus, Netflix has decided to reduce the speed of all its streams in Europe for a period of 30 days.
According to our estimates, this represents a drop of around 25% in traffic, while maintaining a quality service for our subscribers, “said a Netflix spokesperson on this issue.
This measure is in addition to the other actions undertaken by Netflix since 2011 to maintain a stable and acceptable quality of service in low-bandwidth areas, including the already effective implementation of an adaptive streaming tool that automatically adjusts the quality of the video stream according to the available bandwidth.
Source: https://blog.cloudflare.com/