Since the beginning of the global corona crisis, the question has arisen: Will the existing Internet networks withstand an additional burden if more and more people need bandwidth for streaming services, online games and home work?
Experts are still at odds: The European regulatory authority for electronic communications (BEREC) called on streaming providers like Netflix to reduce bandwidth, while various researchers predicted a potential capacity overload.
Josephine Wolff, assistant professor for cybersecurity policy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, writes in one Contribution to the New York Times:
"Just as our healthcare system seems unable to cope with the spread of the corona virus, our broadband, video conferencing platforms and VPNs are facing unprecedented levels of stress. This strain will have serious consequences, not only for the performance of our broadband networks, but also for access to student training and for the security of company data and networks. "
David Belson, Senior Director of Internet Research at the Internet Society, but struck a different note and said that an Internet collapse as a result of Corona was "not likely."
Various Internet providers, including the US provider Cloudflare, the company Cisco and Deutsche Telekom, are also optimistic:
- Cloudflare points out, among other thingsthat the Internet was originally developed from a communication network for people in a crisis.
- Chintan Patel, chief technology officer at Cisco in the UK, told CNBCProviders are prepared to deal with peak network traffic: "The peak values now only last longer and longer."
Traffic is increasing, but everything is still in the green
The corona crisis has caused the demand for Internet bandwidth to increase significantly in many countries around the world, particularly in Europe. In Italy, Germany and the UK, online games and video streaming services saw rapid growth in traffic of 50-60 percent, such as CNBC reports.
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What are companies and providers doing? Regardless of how much the demand for bandwidth will develop in the coming months, various companies have already taken measures to reduce network utilization:
How is the situation at the moment? The previous measures to reduce network traffic and to relocate or increase capacities appear to be having an effect. BEREC stated in a press release (via ZDNet):
"(Our analyzes to date) have shown that all traffic in static and mobile networks increased during the Covid 19 crisis, but that there were no major congestion problems. According to the information available, the providers have this additional traffic load Some local and temporary difficulties with Internet access have been identified, but not found to be unusual. "
What's next? Since the providers have so far coped well with the increased demand for internet bandwidth, consumers do not have to fear major failures for the time being.
Nevertheless, experts like Dexter Thillien, an analyst at Fitch Solutions, warn of problems that could result from the uncertain duration of the crisis. "Physical networks require a certain amount of maintenance," says Thillien. If engineers had to go into self-isolation because of corona, this could make it more difficult to maintain these physical networks.
So there is still an uncertain future ahead of us. As usual, we will keep you up to date on developments.
