Not long after Netflix announced that it will be reducing its streaming quality in the European Union (EU), YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet Inc, also announced that it will also be following suit in limiting the streaming quality of its video within the EU.
The video-sharing platform reportedly made the announcement after an EU official urged it to limit the streaming quality of all its videos. In an effort to reduce internet congestion in all the affected European nations. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, said that his company will honour the wishes of the EU, despite having very few usage peaks through the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to ravage Europe and the rest of the world, many people have been urged to self-quarantine themselves and to practice social distancing if they absolutely insist on going outdoors. As a result of this self-quarantine, many online streaming services have seen a spike in the amount of data used by their customers.
To say that the disease has crippled the global economy would be an understatement. In the world of technology and gaming, several game studios and tech giants have been forced to cancel launch events and postpone them to a later date. While some have opted to simply continue their event, ironically, through livestream.
(Source: Reuters)
