This is in a bid to PRIORITISE ‘CRITICAL’ APPS AND WEBSITES, EXPERTS REVEAL.
Online pressure rising
Social distancing means many Brits are now working from home.
And school closures means that some UK families have more free time than ever.
This is changing the way we use the internet – Vodafone told The Sun that it had seen a 30% increase in all internet traffic.
Importantly, the ‘rush hour’ of internet traffic is typically between 6pm and 8pm but is currently ballooning outwards to between noon and 9pm, one expert revealed.
Networks may have to ration internet
Now experts say that large-scale “internet rationing” projects could eventually go ahead to help keep a cap on the increased demand.
This wouldn’t involve restricting users to specific amount of data or certain apps / websites.
But would mean prioritising specific, important data over, say, entertainment – like movie-streaming or gaming.
“In some cases it will be paramount to prioritise mission critical communications,” said expert analyst Paolo Pescatore, of PP Foresight, speaking to The Sun.
“In these uncertain times, users should consider having a back up connection whether that be another SIM or data only plan.
“This will help them tether to their other connected devices in the home.”
Some rationing has already started
Of course, content providers are already slamming on the brakes – reducing the bitrate (or “quality”) of their videos.
Netflix led the change, and was quickly followed by Google’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, Apple TV+, Disney+ and many more online streaming platforms.
They’ve typically reduced the quality of streams by around 25% across the UK and Europe to reduce network load and help increase speeds across the board.
“People are coming to YouTube to find authoritative news, learning content and make connections during these uncertain times.” a YouTube spokesperson told The Sun.
“While we have seen only a few usage peaks, we have measures in place to automatically adjust our system to use less network capacity.
“We are in ongoing conversations with the regulators (including Ofcom), governments and network operators all over Europe, and are making a commitment to temporarily default all traffic in the UK and the EU to Standard Definition.
“We will continue our work to minimize stress on the system, while also delivering a good user experience.”
Have you got to worry?
The big question is: can UK broadband networks cope?
And the answer – at least for now – seems to be yes.
Networks are designed to handle huge peaks of traffic, and daytime usage isn’t hitting those highs yet although with the whole of the UK set to be spending a lot more time at home, this could quickly change.
“Our networks remain strong,” a Vodafone spokesperson told The Sun.
“We’ve enough headroom to meet growing demand and to keep the UK connected.”
The Sun spoke to Dan Ives, a top tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, who thinks that networks can handle the growing demand.
“The bandwidth can take capacity 5x-7x what it is seeing and run smoothly on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon with no major periods of disruption.”
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