When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 days lockdown in the country, rampant use of the internet is seen among the people. As many professionals have to work from home in this condition, they obviously need a high-speed internet connection. Internet data usage has surged to nearly 30 percent in the last few days. Social distancing is making people go crazy with streaming movies online, video gaming, working from home, learning new courses, watching YouTube tutorials, social media sites and a lot more.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) urged mobile users to use data sensibly so that it can be used in critical times.

According to Director General at COAI- people should use the data wisely so that it can be made available to people in critical times, online payments, digital healthcare, education, remotely working and learning purposes. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Report Reveals Heavy Surge in Internet Usage as Compared to Last Year. Just like other means of living like electricity and food, data is now becoming an integral part of every Indian.

With a huge number of people streaming online movies and working from home, the traffic on the telecommunication servers is increasing. The load on the network is increasing greatly that it will eventually lead to crashing the internet service any day. In order to avoid that situation, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked a few of the majorly used video streaming websites like Netflix, Youtube, Hotstar and Amazon Prime to reduce their resolution by a maximum of 480 pixels which will end up in no option for High Definition experience. By doing this temporarily all the people have access to the internet and Internet services will have a balanced load which will not cause server failure. In response to this, Netflix said it’s going to reduce traffic on the network by 25 percent by reducing the resolution rate for videos. The quality of service will still remain the same though.

Facebook and amazon prime have also reduced the viewing resolution for videos to lower the pressure on internet networks. The steps taken by these platforms are required as there is no staff to manage the incoming pressure on the telecommunication networks. Due to the lockdown condition, even the telecommunication industry has suffered.

In this critical time, we need to understand that internet data should be used wisely and saved for future use. We never know how the coronavirus is going to transpire, to be ready with everything is the need of the hour. It’s time to behave responsibly and make good and responsible use of internet data! You can afford but resources are for everyone and in the time of crisis, humanity is in using each and every resource sensibly.

Team i-engage is doing work from home and on behalf of all the professionals, we request you to use the internet data responsibly to let everyone work. The economy of the country is already affected, this irresponsible behaviour towards usage of data will affect it more. Hope in this time of the pandemic, we together will work digitally to promote the brands and businesses and support the economy of our nation.