An Impactful Move
The move was anticipated, but not from a CDN. Yet, Akamai has its own reason to support, as the largest CDN contributes to over 20% of the world’s internet traffic. So a decision to scale down data speeds could definitely have a reasonable impact on network bandwidth. Well, European regulators to have asked telecom providers to switch their streaming services to Standard Definition, to reduce the load from internet grids. Akamai announced yesterday that, in association with Sony and Microsoft, it would slow down video game downloads in certain regions, to preserve bandwidth for essential usage. This wouldn’t be impacting the gameplay speed, but just the downloading speeds. This was its support for those working from homes due to coronavirus outbreak. Akamai defines justifies how this measure could help, as game downloads or updates contribute to a significant part of internet traffic, which could be equal to 30,000 webpages at times of new game update. Thus, this decision could be fairly impactful. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai said, “Akamai is also working with leading distributors of software, particularly for the gaming industry, including Microsoft and Sony, to help manage congestion during peak usage periods.”
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Source: Akamai Blog
