YouTube, Netflix and Facebook are reducing bit rates for videos on their platforms in India as part of their efforts to help mitigate mobile and broadband network congestion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Netflix said it will reduce traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 per cent while maintaining the quality of service for users in India, while Facebook said it will temporarily reduce bit rates for videos on Facebook and Instagram.

YouTube said it is temporarily defaulting all videos to standard definition.

Companies like Amazon Prime Video have also lowered bit rates, a measure of how much data is being transferred, to ease pressure on telecom network infrastructure.

Bit rate usually determines the size and quality of video and audio files. Higher bit rate indicates better quality.

Consumption of digital content has gone up manifold as people have been asked to stay indoors to contain the spread of coronavirus.

'We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimise stress on the system during this unprecedented situation. Last week, we announced that we were temporarily defaulting all videos on YouTube to standard definition in the EU. Given the global nature of this crisis, we will expand that change globally starting today,' a Google spokesperson said.

Recently, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had written to the government urging issuance of instructions to streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video and others to initiate measures that will ease pressure on network infrastructure, which is needed for 'critical' functions at this juncture.

Amazon India halts order placement of low-priority items, focus on delivering only essential products

E-commerce giant Amazon India on Tuesday said it has temporarily stopped taking orders and disabled shipment of low-priority products as it focuses on delivery of essential items like household staples, hygiene and other high-priority products amid the country-wide lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus.

The company, in a blogpost, said these changes are effective from Tuesday and that it will reach out to customers whose orders of low-priority products are pending. They will be given a choice to cancel their order and receive a refund for prepaid items, it added.

“...we are seeing an increased demand for priority products and important services. To serve our customers' most urgent needs while also ensuring safety of our employees, we are temporarily prioritising our available fulfillment and logistics capacity to serve products that are currently critical for our customers such as household staples, packaged food, health care, hygiene, personal safety and other high priority products,” the blogpost said.

The company said, “This also means that we have to temporarily stop taking orders and disable shipments for lower-priority products.” Amazon said it will follow all guidance from the Centre and state governments, and is working with authorities to ensure on-ground support that will enable it to offer a more expanded selection to fulfill customer needs.'