Internet traffic surges as workers, students stay home

Internet traffic has surged higher as employees and students in Luzon stay at home after the government ordered an enhanced community quarantine to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Telco giant PLDT Inc. estimated that data traffic alone went up by 15 to 20 percent. It said internet usage rose along with voice calls and text messaging.

“Some of the traffic that used to originate from offices are now coming from homes,” PLDT said in a statement.

PLDT said it was taking steps to increase capacity to respond to higher demand.

“We are for example increasing the capacity of our international cable networks, which will improve our ability to carry Internet traffic which comes mainly from overseas,” PLDT said.

“We are also significantly increasing the capacity of our domestic transport network by utilizing our newly installed transformed transport fiber network,” it added.

Maintenance activities will continue despite “difficulties arising from the quarantine measures being implemented to contain the COVID outbreak.”

Globe also noted a rise in mobile working arrangements.

“Given the present-day realities with enterprises deciding to adopt flexible work arrangements, employees need to be able to collaborate and be productive anywhere they may be and in real-time, for businesses to continue to operate efficiently,” said Peter Maquera, senior vice president for Globe Business.

“That is why we are doing our best to provide our clients with the tools to help them optimize the way they do business,” he added.

Globe said this was in line with the enactment of Republic Act No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Act last year.

The Telecommuting Act was envisioned to ease the traffic problems in metropolitan areas. It institutionalized telecommuting, wherein employees are allowed to work from an alternative workplace using information and communication technology tools. INQ