Cox, CenturyLink say internet service not impacted in Las Vegas

Netflix agreed Thursday to reduce its streaming quality in Europe over fears that, with so many people staying home and watching HD-quality video, it would overburden internet providers there.

So far, that doesn’t seem to be a problem in Las Vegas, at least according to Cox Communications and CenturyLink, the valley’s two largest internet providers.

“As far as Cox’s network, overall we’ve seen a slight uptick in total traffic,” said Susie Black-Manriquez, the company’s Las Vegas-based communications manager. “Everything is running smoothly, but traffic patterns are varying some. … As always, we’re keeping a close eye at the individual node level to make sure we don’t approach any congestion thresholds and need to make any adjustments.”

“Similar to our normal process,” she added, “if we see the network reach or exceed utilization thresholds, we will accelerate network upgrade plans in the impacted areas.”

Things are much the same at CenturyLink.

“Currently, we are seeing no impacts to our network, making the risk to our customers’ service continuity minimal,” Andrew Dugan, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, said in a statement. “However, we know how quickly things can change. Our Network Operations Center is constantly monitoring usage across our network. Through a combination of smart technologies and human expertise, our teams can quickly add capability, modify paths and shape traffic to meet the changing needs of our customers.”

Cox has increased the internet speeds for some of its residential customers, relaxed data usage overage charges for all of its customers and introduced a low-income internet tier with no annual contract.

Both companies have pledged to support the FCC’s Keep America Connected initiatives, which include not terminating service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and waiving any late fees those customers incur.

Netflix agreed to reduce the transmission quality of its programming for the next 30 days in Europe, following a request from the European Union and Commissioner Thierry Breton. So far, the company has indicated neither the need nor plans to do so in the U.S.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.