Mumbai: Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has written to the telecom department and over-the-top (OTT) companies such as Netflix, Hotstar, Voot, and Amazon Prime Video to lower the streaming resolution to reduce the burden on the networks in the wake of people staying at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“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 also called for lowering streaming quality to Standard Definition (SD) from High Definition (HD). According to ET Telecom, COAI has requested the same to OTT players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Hotstar.
“This sudden surge in digital use is already putting pressure on the network infrastructure of the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). The TSPs are taking requisite steps to manage this load and facilitate the smooth functioning of the networks during this critical time,” COAI wrote
“It is pertinent to note that the need of the hour is that companies offering streaming platform service and TSPs take joint responsibility to take steps to ensure smooth functioning of the data communication networks to align with other measures being taken in this battle to curb the propagation of the virus,” COAI added in its letter to the OTT services.
Earlier, SVOD leader Netflix has agreed to appeals from the European Commission to lessen the load on Europe’s residential networks which are seeing unprecedented usage as millions work at home in order to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. The platform has suspended broadcasting content in high-definition and switched to the substantially less network intensive SD. It has also agreed to cut its bit rates for a period of 30 days to ease the load.
