As every day, a new country is announced to be entering a quarantine – partial or total – technology is once again becoming an ally of humanity, helping people continue to work and have fun, even at home. Our access to the internet is a primary requirement and has begun to be valued as a “social good”.
However, has anyone ever wondered if the internet was ready to withstand so many users at the same time?
Currently, 250,650 people in 183 countries are sick around the world, according to the online map created by Microsoft https://www.bing.com/covid. Based on these numbers, we understand that internet use has never been so simultaneous.
The networks in the last twenty-four hours seem to have been overloaded, due to the high use of internet services, which are not only used for entertainment or communication but also for teleworking. Citizens who have never used this medium will use it “willingly or unwillingly” to be able to communicate with their families or as a way out of their boredom. It therefore seems that demand has skyrocketed and is constantly and rapidly increasing.
The Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Giorgos Georgantas, is making a statement about “digital solidarity”. He stated that the government has already contacted providers to make offers on a platform, DigitalSolidarityGR. A similar action has been implemented in Italy with great success.
In the neighboring country, Italy, the quarantine has pushed young and old to video games. The most popular (and free) game of the last two years, Fortnite, has acted as a magnet for a large portion of the public.
However, the increased hours of playing Fortnite seem to have strained Italy’s networks. Telecom Italian SpA reports that internet traffic has increased by 70%, driven by online gaming, since Italy went into lockdown.
But it seems that America is not far behind. In Seattle, one of the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus in America, internet usage began to increase on January 30, just after the first confirmed case.
Traffic on IP networks has increased by 40%, mobile calls by 50% and data usage by 25%. It is also impressive that traffic on instant messaging tools such as Whatsapp has multiplied 5 times.
Internet providers are really doing their best to keep their servers running normally. But for how long?
But let’s put it into perspective. For a typical household, with a simple internet connection, 30 megabits per second is enough. However, when the whole family at home is connected to a simple Wi-Fi network at the same time, then there is low and slow performance.
Can you imagine quarantine without internet?
The scenario of being left without internet during a quarantine period seems scary at least, the Ministry of Digital Governance published 10 rules to prevent the system from crashing while we stay at home due to the coronavirus.
Sources: