A recent report states that internet usage has surged by between 50 and 70 percent during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic while streaming services have seen a 12 percent increase in usage.
Forbes reports that Omdia, the tech research arm of Informa Tech, has revealed that internet usage has surged by between 50 and 70 percent during the coronavirus pandemic while streaming services are seeing a jump of at least 12 percent. This increase is not surprising given the large number of employees now working from home due to the pandemic.
Maria Rua Aguete of Omdia stated in a report: “Increased consumption of digital content from mobile apps to free TV streaming and gaming has already been observed in China and Italy. Online streaming services provided by brands such as Netflix and now Disney+ are likely to see 12% growth.”
Aguete stated that the annual figures reported are quite revealing, stating: “Ecommerce will be the other sector that will see a revenue boost as a result of the pandemic, adding $175 billion in revenue in 2020, which represents a 5% increase.”
The Disney+ streaming service recently launched in most countries in Europe with a reduced bandwidth option. Many previously established streaming services such as Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix have all lowered the quality of their video streaming services in order to reduce the strain on networks.
Omdia is currently predicting $11 billion in losses for the movie industry with a 25 percent decline and a 15 percent drop in TV advertising. Omdia further predicted that the industry will begin to recover in 18 to 24 months.
Antonio Corrado, the chief executive of MainStreaming, says: “Telecom Italia has seen a 90% increase in traffic alone since the lockdown was put into place, driven by people trying to work from home. At MainStreaming, we’ve seen a three times increase in streaming traffic over our delivery network since the lockdown, with more people watching TV over the internet.”
Alfonso Marone, who is head of media at KPMG U.K. stated:
“Broadband providers are thus far experiencing a traffic surge between 30% and 50% across their mobile and fixed networks. Where self-isolation policies are at their peak in Europe, the spike in internet traffic has reached as high as 70%, which is indicative of what the traffic surge could look like in other regions in just two to three weeks’ time. The most bandwidth-hungry are the online entertainment applications, especially those in high-definition like 4K movies and TV. For broadband providers, this spike may be seen as more a source of headache.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com