27 October 2020

Research: Effect of Covid-19 lockdowns on Internet traffic

The introduction of Covid-19 restrictions around the world had a huge impact on Internet traffic. People are online more frequently and for longer. Whereas in “normal times” there was a big difference in the amount of data traffic between weekdays and weekends, the volume has been levelling. Video conferencing traffic has increased massively but tends to drop on the weekend – however, this is compensated for by entertainment such as streaming videos and online gaming.  

Newly published research “The Lockdown Effect: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Internet Traffic”, used data from a diverse set of vantage points to examine the effect of the lockdowns on traffic shifts. The data shows how the traffic volume increased by 15-20 percent almost within a week. While this might sound modest, this constitutes a large increase within this short time period.  

Unseen and rapid traffic shifts – how did the Internet cope? 

Despite this surge, the Internet infrastructure is able to handle the new volume, as most traffic shifts occur outside of traditional peak hours. While many networks see increased traffic demands, particularly those providing services to residential users, some networks have experienced major overall decreases. Download the study to find out how the Internet coped with the unseen and rapid traffic shifts.  

  • Download the research paper “The Lockdown Effect: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Internet Traffic”
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