Wireline home internet traffic in June and July was up to 21.1 percent higher for downloads and 44.4 percent for uploads compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) conducted a study examining Canadians’ consumption of telecommunications services amid the ongoing pandemic. The association collected information regarding wireline and mobile traffic and measured it against a pre-COVID-19 baseline.
It’s no surprise that home wireline internet usage continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels since many businesses are still working from home.
Mobile data traffic increased by as much as 43.9 percent for downloads and 37.2 percent for mobile data uploads. The CWTA outlines that wireless traffic for June and July can be analyzed more closely by looking at median changes.
“In late July, based on median changes in usage, mobile data download traffic surpassed pre-COVID levels by 14.6 percent while upload traffic was 27.7 percent higher than pre-COVID levels. This continues the trend of increasing usage of mobile wireless services since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report notes.
Voice call minutes also increased by up to 40.1 percent in June and 34.4 percent in July compared to pre-pandemic levels. The CWTA notes that while voice usage decreased by a small amount in July, this continued an overall trend of high usage that was visible from March to May.
The report outlines that Canadians are continuing to rely heavily on their phone and internet connections even as COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted.
“At the same time, Canada’s telecom infrastructure has proven remarkably resilient in the face of the heavy demands being placed on it,” the CWTA notes.
The association conducted this study by surveying Bell, Rogers, Telus, Freedom Mobile, Vidéotron, SaskTel and Tbaytel. The results show the range of increase in data volume among participating carriers compared to their pre-COVID-19 baseline average.
Each carrier’s baseline average was determined using their averages for February 24th, March 2nd and March 9th.
Image credit: CWTA
Source: CWTA
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