Internet usage surges as people stay home

The use of Wi-Fi networks across the Philippines surged higher as people are confined to their homes amid the Luzon enhanced community quarantine that started in the middle of March 2020.

Using crowdsourced data, Opensignal said time on Wi-Fi networks rose 13.4 percent week-on-week to 63.3 percent in the third week of March.

“This was the largest week-on-week increase we observed across all the Asian countries that we are tracking,” Opensignal said in a statement.

The company tracked the usage time smartphone users spent on a Wi-Fi network. It first detected a statistically significant week-on-week increase in the second week of March, then higher by 4.2 percent to 55.8 percent.

Since the start of the enhanced community quarantine, most companies implemented widespread work-from-home measures while schools canceled classes.

Outside the Philippines, large increases were seen in Peru and Spain, which went up 20.4 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively. Wi-Fi use on smartphones in Spain hit 73.1 percent and 47 percent in Peru.

Telco giant PLDT Inc. earlier estimated that data traffic alone went up 15 to 20 percent amid the enhanced community quarantine. “Some of the traffic that used to originate from offices are now coming from homes,” PLDT said.