EU Asked Netflix And YouTube To Limit Services To Prevent Network Crash

The Internet faces unprecedented load with many people working from home in the midst of a Coronavirus outbreak. The EU has asked content providers like YouTube and Netflix to limit their services to ease the extra load on broadband networks by increased traffic.

Allegedly, networks could crash under the surge in content streaming, remote working, and online gaming brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Data providers insist that they could handle the extra load, Brussels has asked streaming services to limit services to standard definition– contrary to high definition or 4K- and users to consider reducing data consumption.

As compared to commercial broadband, the domestic network is well equipped to handle evening traffic surges. But social distancing and quarantine policies across the world are further increasing the periods of high traffic.

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Scott Petty, CTO at UK telecom firm Vodafone, reports that traffic is no longer limited to evenings, but now extends from midday to 9 pm. Telecom Italia recorded a 75% increase in Italian data traffic over the weekend.

Netflix agreed to the point that additional traffic could cause problems but pointed to the existing measures that allow the company to adjust the content resolution based on available bandwidth.

“We’ve been focused on network efficiency for many years,” said Netflix spokesperson, “including providing our open connect service for free to telecommunications companies.”