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News - Paul Lipscombe
May 5, 2020
The lockdown has seen families make the most out of their broadband
Home broadband usage has risen by a third to 41 hours a week since the start of the lockdown, according to Uswitch.
Prior to the lockdown this figure was an average of 32 hours each week.
The study also revealed Southampton has seen the biggest surge in broadband usage, up for 49 per cent.
On average each household has eight devices that can connect to the internet, with up to five devices connected to the internet at a time, Uswitch said.
It comes as many workers are having to work from home due to the restrictions in place.
In fact working has contributed to the biggest average growth in broadband usage, up 67 per cent to eight hours and 30 minutes.
Video-calling has also grown due to the number of work meetings and weekly catch up’s being held across the country.
With London the biggest region for video calls, as 93 per cent say they’ve made one since lockdown. This compares to just 58 per cent in Wales.
Meanwhile Liverpool has the nation’s busiest gamers, with users spending seven-and-a-half hours each week gaming.
Social media has also grown on average during the lockdown, up nine per cent, with online shopping similar.
Challenging
However the vast increase in broadband usage has resulted in problems for some users.
A fifth of users (21 per cent) have reported internet issues, with around of half complaining their internet cuts out.
Uswitch broadband expert Adelana Carty said: “The lockdown is testing households’ broadband connections to the limit, as multiple devices use the internet around the clock.
“It’s already a very challenging time for many households, but having a reliable broadband connection can at least give a bit more stability to services many are increasingly reliant on.”
