Netflix reduces bitrate of its streams in Australia to combat congestion

Following on from measures it has already undertaken to reduce network congestion in Europe, Netflix has lowered the bitrate of its streams in Australia as of last night, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The decision has been made to help local telcos cope with the increased demand that's being placed on their networks as more and more Australians work from home and self-isolate against the threat of Covid-19.

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"Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on the telecommunications network by 25 per cent while also maintaining the quality of our service," said Ken Florance, Netflix's VP of content delivery.

While the service will be taking a bitrate hit, Florance assures Netflix customers that they "should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan – where it's ultra-high, high or standard definition."

"if you are particularly tuned into video quality you may notice a very slight decrease in quality within each resolution," said Florance.

The drop in Netflix's bitrate will reportedly continue for the next 30 days, joining YouTube and game downloads on the growing list of throttled services.

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