In 2020, it was probably adjusted to a difficult mode. The supply of masks and hand sanitizers was in short supply, and toilet paper had to be grabbed. Now even Internet access is limited.

With the spread of the epidemic worldwide, Europe and the United States have also opened remote office models, coupled with the surge in online entertainment traffic, which has led to a huge increase in bandwidth demand. Netflix, YouTube and other platforms have reduced the video resolution in disguise and speed. .

Speed ​​limits started as early as Europe.

In the early days of the outbreak, it is foreseen that broadband networks may be tight. EU Internal Market and Services Commissioner Thierry Breton urged streaming platforms to consider limiting video bit rates to avoid overloading traffic and affecting home office workers.

The first to agree to reduce the bit rate is Netflix, the company announced that it will reduce the resolution of all streaming media in Europe for 30 days starting March 19. YouTube, Apple TV +, and Amazon Prime Video followed closely behind, reducing the quality of video available to European users.

Except that YouTube directly stated in the statement that the video will use the default resolution (480P) and 9to5Mac found that the Apple TV + resolution has been reduced to 670P, most platforms have not revealed to what extent the picture quality will be reduced, and Netflix is ​​only Claimed to reduce traffic by 25%, but they emphasized that they will try to ensure that it does not affect the viewing experience. After all, high-definition video is an important selling point of these platforms, but some Apple TV + users report that “high-speed moving images have slower refresh rates and compression levels. Higher, with distinct pixels. ”

▲ YouTube’s default picture quality is 480P

However, users in other countries have n’t been happy for a long time. Netflix ’s speed limit has been extended to Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Argentina, and Chile. It is officially claimed to be in response to government and operator requests. YouTube has also changed from Starting from Tuesday, 480P image quality will be provided to users worldwide by default, but users can still choose HD resolution as long as their network conditions allow it.

Game companies can’t handle it. Akamai, an American company that provides manufacturers with accelerated services (CDN), confirmed that in order to preserve bandwidth and avoid network congestion during the epidemic, they intend to reduce game download speeds during peak periods. Social networkHegemonic Facebook and its Instagram have failed to stay aloof, confirming that video quality has been reduced in Europe.

Why speed limit in Europe?

After grabbing toilet paper, the website’s initiative to reduce speed is probably another unexpected operation by foreigners during the epidemic. Is the European network so bad?

It is undeniable that video platforms and online games, as large traffic users, obviously consume much more network resources than information in the form of music and messages.

▲ Image from: SANDVINE

SANDVINE statistics show that 60% of the global downlink traffic in 2019 will be occupied by video services, and 5 companies including Google, Neflix, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple will be divided With 43% of global traffic, these companies have a large number of streaming businesses, of which Google, which owns YouTube, ranks first, and Netflix only ranks second with a slight gap.

When millions of residents are isolated at home, video and gaming consume bandwidth, and market research company Nielsen estimates that the use of streaming entertainment, led by Netflix, will continue to increase under the continued impact of the epidemic Disney +, which has just landed in Europe recently, is a icing on the cake for users, and it may be even worse for network operators. Not to mention the accompanying video conferencing, distance learning and other services, the demand for the network is only increasing.

But tracing the source and sacrificing image quality is only a symptom, because the root cause of network congestion lies in European infrastructure. Copper networks based on xDSL technology are still widely used in most European countries, accounting for 50% of Europe’s fixed bandwidth lines. Compared with optical fiber, copper wire has the advantage of low cost, but it is much worse in terms of delay, transmission capacity and interference resistance.

In order to upgrade the European network environment, European countries have also established the FTTH Council. According to a report by the agency in 2019, the highest fiber penetration rate is Latvia, which exceeds 50%. The United Kingdom It finally made it to the global rankings with a poor 1.5%.