Covid-19 or Coronavirus has been creating trouble for the whole world. The deadly virus is spreading rapidly and disrupting the operations of industries around the globe. To fight back and ensure safety from the deadly virus, the Indian government has shut down malls, theatres, schools and colleges till March 31, 2020, to stop the virus outbreak. Also, big organisations have declared work from home to combat stressful situations. In the lockdown situation, people are relying more upon the video streaming platforms for their entertainment which is creating a burden on the Telecom Service Providers (TSP’s). To reduce the network overload, ET Telecom reported that COAI has urged to various OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and many others to reduce their streaming quality and switch off HD streaming which would reduce the burden of network infrastructures.
Advertisements Should be Replaced with Covid-19 Public Awareness: COAI
COAI stated that OTT platforms which show advertisements and pop-ups must be removed entirely as it consumes high bandwidth or if necessary, it should be replaced with public awareness regarding the Covid-19. COAI also marked that OTT platforms must maintain a decent bitrate along with temporary SD streaming which would reduce the network load. COAI, in its letter, stated that telecom operators and OTT platforms must join hands and work together to combat the stressful situation and provide the best network infrastructure for complete entertainment to users.
Airtel Has Sufficient Bandwidth for Retail and Enterprise Customers
Airtel is one of the most lovable and widely-used telco operators in India. As per a spokesperson from Airtel, the telco giant has created a futuristic and highly secured network which can cater to the needs of network bandwidth to customers. Also, the telco giant has a massive investment in the 4G allocation along with data centres which are capable of providing sufficient bandwidth to retail and enterprise customers.
Similarly, to ensure that people are having a comfortable quarantine period, Reliance Jio has introduced double data plans for its prepaid customers. Also, Broadband service providers are introducing attractive plans which will offer high-speed internet data along with free OTT services. It is expected that OTT platforms will soon reduce the streaming quality. However, no official confirmation has been declared by the platforms.
