Service providers report on COVID-19 coronavirus stay-at-home effects

Service providers worldwide are reporting increased demand for broadband and entertainment services as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has led companies to instruct workers to stay at home and schools have closed. Here’s a roundup of information from last week:

• Verizon reports its network is holding up well under the strain of greater service demands, including adding capacity to “small pockets where there has been a significant increase in usage.” Nevertheless, “Verizon is closely monitoring network usage in the most impacted areas. We will work with and prioritize network demand in assisting many U.S. hospitals, first responders and government agencies, as needed,” the company said on a status page. On March 24, the service provider reported that it was seeing an average of 9 billion texts each day on its wireless network. And it was supporting an average of 800 million wireless calls each weekday, which Verizon says is nearly twice the call volume of Mother’s Day. Call durations are 33% greater versus a typical day as well.
• Video views are increasing as well, reports AT&T. Live views were up 15% and free video on-demand was up nearly 25% last week across both AT&T TV and DIRECTV. Movie buying and renting volume has almost doubled as well. Overall, AT&T says core network traffic, which includes business, home broadband and wireless usage, was up 19% on March 28 compared to February 28. Consumer home voice calling minutes of use were up 65% on Sunday, March 29, from an average Sunday. “We are adding capacity to address congestion when and where it appears,” the company said on its website.
• CenturyLink also says it is keeping pace with network demand growth. “The CenturyLink network is performing at its normal high standard, and while there are limited areas of congestion outside the United States, we have added multiple terabits of capacity and will continue to do so to keep ahead of demand,” the company stated via its website. CenturyLink adds, “We will continue to actively monitor the network from our virtual Network Operations Centers (NOCs) around the world. CenturyLink has the flexibility to add capacity, modify paths, and adjust traffic based on utilization and we are continually refining our approach.”
• Windstream likewise is seeing an increase in network use -- approximately 50% more voice traffic and an approximately 30% more data traffic since mid-March but says such spikes are “well within the company’s defined network operational tolerances.”
• U.S. cable MSOs also report that they are handling the situation well. “It is not uncommon to see traffic spikes that escalate network utilization by 30 to 40 percent in conjunction with major news stories, election cycles, large sporting events, and even major game releases or updates. Our network is designed to support these surges,” stated Ken Johnson, senior vice president of technology services at Sparklight (formerly Cable One). “At this time, the load on our network is very similar to these crests, only sustained for a longer period of time,”
• Other service providers appear to be not as prepared. Netflix reported March 21 that it had been asked to throttle back its services outside of the U.S. The company says it has reduced its transmission capacity demands by 25% at the behest of the European Union. Netflix reports similar requests from some ISPs in Latin America. Reuters reports that the company also has reduced traffic to subscribers in India, as has Amazon and Facebook.
• UK regulatory Ofcom, as have its counterparts in other countries, has designated communications providers as essential business. UK open fiber to the premises (FTTP) network provider CityFibre reports that Ofcom has requested that FTTP infrastructure deployments continue. These activities include connecting customers.
• U.S. cable operator WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone (NYSE: WOW) revealed on March 29 that its CEO, Teresa Elder, has been hospitalized in Denver since March 27 after testing positive for the coronavirus. Bill Case, chief information officer, will serve as acting CEO as Elder recovers and WOW! Board Chairman Jeff Marcus will temporarily assume a formal leadership role as executive chairman.

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