Netflix has opened up on how it limits bandwidth for customers on mobile networks. The company said it's implementing a default setting for mobile customers of streaming at about 600 Kbps, to help them avoid exceeding data caps. This means about 1 GB used for three hours of streaming video. Netflix said its testing showed this offers a good compromise between video quality and data usage.
Customers will be able to adjust this in their settings if they want to to stream at higher bit rates and use more data. They will have a choice of six settings: streaming only on Wi-Fi, the default setting, low for about 4 hours of video per GB, medium for about 2 hours per GB, high for about 1 hour per GB, and unlimited, offering the highest possible quality for their device and connection. The unlimited setting can use as much as 1 GB or more in 20 minutes, Netflix said.
The announcement follows the company admitting last month that it was throttling customers on certain mobile networks for some time already, in order to protect customers from low data caps and overage fees.
