Broadband usage soars across NZ as numbers of people working from home rise

Telecommunications company Chorus has today confirmed it is seeing a spike in broadband use – the most since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

It comes as thousands of Kiwis are now working from home as companies prepare for the impact of Covid-19 to worsen.

Some businesses are doing a two-week test of their technical capabilities, looking at ways of coping as staff movements are restricted.

Chorus has reiterated its fixed line network is in very good shape to support a significant increase in working and education from home, and that it will also support the industry in providing fast, stable and reliable broadband connections to as many Kiwis as possible.

Its infrastructure has the capacity to accommodate about a 350 per cent increase in the current typical amount of daytime internet traffic.

For the first time since Covid-19 began to impact New Zealand, the company has seen a noticeable increase in daytime traffic, increasing by 17 per cent above a typical day.

“We know we have an essential role in providing strategically critical infrastructure that underpins much of the telecommunications sector,” said JB Rousselot, Chorus CEO.

“Customers can be assured the Chorus network will continue to provide totally reliable high-speed connectivity, even if demands for bandwidth skyrocket."

Meanwhile, offshore streaming service Netflix says it will reduce streaming quality in Europe for at least four weeks to prevent the collapse of the internet, CNN Business reports.

Unparalleled usage due to the coronavirus outbreak has seen hundreds of millions of people begin to work from home along with children being educated online.

Netflix said it would scale down the bit rate of all of its video streams for the next month.

"We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25 per cent while also ensuring a good quality service for our members," a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement.

Livestreaming has also increased globally as classes, video-conferencing and even musicians livestream to viewers has begun to trend.

With a demand on the internet greater than video streaming, users are urged to be considerate of their need for internet use.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said Facebook's services are facing "big surges”, describing the increase as “well beyond” the main spike over the increase in demand as "well beyond" the main annual spike usually seen on New Year’s Eve.