The use of social platforms and video and voice calls through different apps or mobile operators has increased significantly due to countrywide lockdown, resulting in the increase of internet use by 21 percent. After the start of the government-announced 10-days general holiday from March 26, more than 200 GBPS are being than usual time, Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) have confirmed this.
People have been using the internet as a means of communication and socialization during the lockdown. According to ISPAB, people are widely using Facebook, while YouTube is holding the second position. Besides, different apps, which provide video call services like IMO, Viber, WhatsApp, Messengers, and others, are also being used widely.
Over the last few days, the increase in bandwidth usage has increased due to the 60 percent active Facebook users. YouTube usage has increased by about 40 percent. In addition to the WhatsApp, Viber and Imo, bandwidth usage has increased by 20 percent to 30 percent. The use of Web TV Netflix and Hoichoi has increased by 10 to 15 percent. The use of online gaming platforms has also increased than before, showed the ISPAB statistics.
Md Emdadul Hoque, Secretary-General of ISPAB, told The Bangladesh Post that, internet use demand increased since March 24. Before that the usual internet use was 1400 GBPS, but now the internet use has stood at 1700 GBPS. He, however, expressed the fear that, “We do not know how long we can offer continuous internet service if the lockdown period is extended. We are unable to get our subscription charges from our customers”.
Meanwhile, the country’s mobile operators direct voice calls have also increased. Direct voice call has increased by about 12 percent in the country. The average daily voice calls in the country is about 160 crore minutes. In the last few days, the average voice call has reached 180 crore minutes.
Md Hasan, head of external communications of Grameenphone told The Bangladesh Post that, “We have monitored mixed trends in both voice and data usage pattern, so it is difficult to comment on anything substantial at this point”.