As part of efforts to reduce strains to Internet Service Providers, Europe regulators asked streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime to reduce bandwidth usage. YouTube had already responded to this saying they would be defaulting playback to Standard Definition in Europe. Today, according to Bloomberg, the company has announced they’ll be extending this move worldwide in the coming month.
YouTube is the world’s most popular video platform. As more and more people stay home in the coming weeks due to the ongoing pandemic, they will definitely be going online to watch videos, live-stream stuff, etc. This could cause strains to ISPs and the best way to deal with this right now is to limit video quality on streaming services so that individuals don’t take up too much bandwidth.
The good thing is that you’ll be able to manually choose a higher definition by clicking on settings. You will still be able to watch your 4K streams, don’t feel bad. Very many people, however, won’t bother to change the quality, so that’ll be good for the bandwidth utilisation. Also, 480p isn’t a bad resolution if you’re watching on a phone, or a mini tablet. Most people won’t notice the difference.
“We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” Google said in a statement.
Meanwhile, as the rest of the world faces possible issues with internet services, in Kenya if you have a Home Fibre connection from Safaricom your speeds will be 2x for the next 90 days.
