How COVID-19 Has Affected Rural WISPs in Canada
With self-isolation and community quarantines rising across Canada amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the nature of daytime internet usage is changing. With such a fundamental shift in the way people live and work, the impact is being felt by all service and utility providers. Fixed wireless internet service providers provide critical last mile connectivity to rural communities across Canada, helping to bridge the digital divide.
Preseem is used by Fixed Wireless ISPs to monitor, analyze, and also improve the quality of experience (QoE) they deliver to their subscribers. Our system ingests billions of metrics from our customer base across North America.
As a result, Preseem can provide key insights on how the spread of COVID-19 is changing internet usage across the country. The following data was collected across WISPs in Ontario and Quebec to avoid time zone effects.
First Few Days of COVID-19 in Canada: Increase In Total Internet Usage Across Fixed Wireless Networks
Here, we’re comparing the Monday-Wednesday period starting March 9th to the same timeframe the following week. You can see that average internet usage went up by almost 20%. Declaration of provincial emergencies, school closures and mandatory work-from-home policies contributed to this dramatic surge in internet usage.
Usage Shift During Business Hours
It’s also interesting to see the shift in internet usage during typical business hours across the three-day comparison period.
Internet usage during the Monday-Wednesday period starting March 16th increased by 16.8% vs. the previous week. With many people working from home, internet usage across residential customers for rural wireless networks then increased dramatically.
Also, internet usage across the noon hour increased by more than 50% compared to the preceding week. You can get even more insights on how COVID-19 is affecting networks across Canada by downloading our full report now!
Preseem is a one-of-a-kind Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring and optimization platform, designed specifically for fixed wireless networks. If your organization is looking to reduce support costs and improve QoE, then sign up for a free 30-day trial today.
