It goes without saying that Wi-Fi has become absolutely essential during this pandemic. It’s been a lifeline for telehealth, education, remote work, streaming movies and staying connected while staying apart.
Now, more than a year into the pandemic, we have some real numbers and supportive stories to show how people used networks and Wi-Fi during this time. And the data shows one thing in particular: our networks are strong and were able to keep up with rising demand.
This month, the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) released a report that revealed how important Wi-Fi has been to keeping people connected. The study found that, when put to the intense stress test that has been the COVID-19 pandemic, networks across the United States have remained resilient and kept Americans online.
With millions of Americans needing to both work and live entirely at home, the study unsurprisingly revealed that there was a significant bump in online traffic, increasing up to 40% during peak business hours. As work and school shifted remotely for many Americans, some networks saw an increase of 300% in video conferencing services from February to October 2020. Additionally, transit networks, content delivery networks and Internet exchange points saw traffic volumes increase by 20-50%.
But despite this sharp rise in online traffic, the networks responded well and Wi-Fi withstood the stress test. BITAG noted that ISPs were able to keep pace with demand and concluded most notably that the “Internet proved resilient and reliable” in the face of the intense increase in traffic amidst the ongoing pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, the overall global economic value of Wi-Fi rose during the pandemic as well. According to a February 2021 Wi-Fi Alliance Study, the economic impact of Wi-Fi in the U.S. is expected to reach $4.9 trillion by 2025. This figure represents a 150% increase from the last estimate taken in 2018. This study from WFA also revealed that the overall global economic value of Wi-Fi is expected to reach $3.3 trillion in 2021 alone.
For more on how Wi-Fi has supported us during the pandemic, visit WifiForward’s COVID-19 resource page.