The coronavirus pandemic has most of us staying behind closed doors to ensure that its flaming waves don’t engulf more victims. But this quarantine is testing us, humans, in terms of our ability to not lose our minds over boredom and being confined within four walls. Naturally, we’ve turned our heads towards the internet in the form of streaming services and multiplayer video games to keep our minds off all that’s going on in the world. But this has put a strain on internet service providers as they’re struggling to service a sudden spike in demand.
To help battle this spike, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has written to OTT companies such as Netflix , Hotstar , Amazon Prime Video , and Voot amongst others, to lower the video streaming resolution.
“We believe that during this critical time, it is absolutely essential for the streaming platforms to cooperate with TSPs to manage traffic distribution patterns which are likely to strain network infrastructure at a time when it is needed for various critical requirements,” COAI said in a letter to OTT platforms.
The body requested OTT services to reduce the streaming quality from HD to SD to ensure that binge-watching doesn’t prove to be a bottleneck in these testing times. To read more, click here .