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Customers will now be able to decide for themselves if they want to control mobile data use.
Netflix will now let users all over the globe adjust the quality of its television and film streams over mobile connections, giving them the choice of using more data for a higher quality video or less data if they can accept video streams of a lower quality.
Eddy Wu, director of product innovation at Netflix, explained in a blog post that the default setting on the new tool would enable users to stream about three hours of TV shows and movies per gigabyte of data.
“In terms of bitrates, that currently amounts to about 600 kilobits per second. Our testing found that, on cellular networks, this setting balances good video quality with lower data usage to help avoid exceeding data caps and incurring overage fees,” Wu said.
The company noted that its goal is to give customers more control and greater choice in managing data usage whether they are on an unlimited mobile plan or not. Streaming on Wi-Fi or when tethered to a laptop using a smartphone are not affected.
The Verge noted that the new tool is a response to complaints after it was revealed that Netflix had been limiting video quality for AT&T and Verizon customers. Although its intention had been to protect customers from exceeding mobile data allowances, Netflix did not offer a choice to subscribers with very large or unlimited data plans.
