The term “coronavirus effect” is being used to describe many of the changes society has experienced in just the past few weeks - and that term also applies to the emerging patterns of usage and consumption of the internet, broadband, and cell communication.
With everyone at home, the internet is slow, to the extent that Netflix and other streaming services have reduced the quality of their content streaming - at the request of governments. Traditionally ISPs put most of their resources into ensuring smooth connections for business users, i.e. in business districts; now that infrastructure is largely idle, but the infrastructure in suburban areas, which wasn't designed for the kind of traffic it's experiencing, is creaking.
It's not just broadband Wi-Fi that's under pressure. 4G networks are also getting unprecedented levels of traffic in areas where the infrastructure is having a hard time supporting that. In some places, 4G traffic is up 30% and more in suburban and rural areas - leading to slowdowns in the network.
That, too, is the fault of coronavirus. Frustrated internet users who can't get the speeds they need with Wi-Fi are using their 4G connections for data, putting pressure on the networks for capacity they weren't designed for. And that pressure is especially great because those data connections are all indoors. 4G networks work best outdoors, and the infrastructure has been built with outdoor use in mind.
Add to that the increase in the use of voice and video for phone calls - another development that wasn't foreseen or adequately prepared for, as the recent years have seen a steep decline in voice calls and tremendous growth in data usage on 4G networks - and you have a “perfect storm” of heavy usage taxing limited resources.
Some signs of the times: A study by Verizon of its 4G network shows that mobile handovers between cell towers were down 27% in the last week of March, indicating that more people were staying in place. Meanwhile, the company reported an average of 800 million wireless calls each weekday for the week - nearly twice the call volume of Mother’s Day. Meanwhile, web traffic was up 22% - and VPN traffic was up 25%.
Thanks to coronavirus, 4G is now a major communication technology for indoor home use - and that is something service providers were largely unprepared for. after all, most people would use broadband at home or in the office, so companies can't be blamed for investing their efforts on pedestrian traffic outdoors; smartphones are for connecting to services when you're on the go, not in the (home) office. And the result has been a degradation of service, whether it's slower connection speeds or poor quality voice calls - just when customers need good service the most.
Is there anything service providers can do at this point to improve things? It's actually an urgent question; we're likely nowhere near the end of mandatory quarantine in many areas, which means that the pressure on networks is not going to be relieved any time soon.
In normal times, companies would develop an infrastructure investment plan, pricing equipment and examining sites for new cell towers, seeking regulatory approval, obtaining new spectrum, etc. And service providers are working hard to build their 5G networks, which will improve speeds significantly and eliminate many of the challenges networks are facing right now. But those are processes that could take years - and these are not normal times. Nerves are frayed enough without communication slowdowns and outages; under these circumstances, improving the network could save relationships, marriages - maybe even lives.
Fortunately, there are things operators can do - and in response to the situation, many of them have begun optimizing and reconfiguring their networks to handle the increased demand, and enable better indoor connections.
For example, AT&T has been working to improve the situation by redeploying its network in response to the increased demand, using artificial intelligence. According to the company, “When cell site issues are detected, we have an automated process to collect data, analyze and reset the site. AI is also helping us conserve energy, by “waking up” some cells more frequently as traffic increases, while others, such as in office parks and buildings that are less occupied now, go to sleep more.” In addition, the company “has expedited deployments of new AI capabilities in certain markets that will allow us to balance the traffic load within a sector and across sectors to help avoid overloading specific cells and improve the experience.”
Coronavirus in many ways has been a shock to the system, throwing challenges to society, government, business and individuals that no one ever anticipated. What lessons will we have learned? For communication companies, the lesson must be the need to be more nimble. Behemoths like Verizon and AT&T have the resources to deal with black swan events like this, but you can bet there are many service providers that aren't - and their customers are the ones that are shouldering the burden.
The urgent lesson for infrastructure companies is that they need to be nimble enough to change directions when they need to respond to an unforeseen event. The technology to do that is out there - and it doesn't require a huge investment in 5G to tweak systems in order to provide the communication services people are relying on more than ever.
