Across _all_ flows there is a reduction in bandwidth usage, not just VoD but also delivery by CDN’s in general.
In hindsight on the VoD side it was probably not needed from BT network POV; however, the data we have as service providers is limited, in the last three years there was only one big work from home day in the UK in 2018. The traffic pretty much followed the same profile but was twice the size. I was never concerned about home working, but when the schools closed – that I knew would instantly double the traffic we were seeing. Personally speaking, after some idiots stated that the network wouldn’t cope and other idiots reported on it without asking the people who knew what they were talking about, so we as service providers had to build confidence that the network would perform. I had to talk to HMG many times to give them updates as they wanted assurance (and rightly so). One of our big concerns was some of the big videogames doing updates all on the same day and again the videogame industry responded well. On VOD, we’ve had our biggest VOD days in the last three weeks, lots more flows using less bandwidth. I doth my cap to OFCOM, DCMS, cabinet office and the department of health whom have all, in my view, shown outstanding performance in my personal engagement with them. Also our key suppliers Nokia, Huawei, Adva, Ericsson, and Ciena have all knocked it out the park. Netflix/Disney/Google/Youtube/Akamai/Limelight/L3/Activision/EA/EPIC infact pretty much all of the CDNS and video gaming companies did a fantastic job also and showed fantastic co-op. Building that confidence was crucial and successful and we as an industry have a huge amount to be proud about. Regards, Neil. From: uknof <[email protected]> on behalf of Mark Tinka <[email protected]> Date: Friday, 17 April 2020 at 14:35 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [uknof] Fwd: [IP] COVID-19 Internet Usage Update (US) On 17/Apr/20 14:51, Neil J. McRae wrote: Yes I’ve been updating network stats for BT on my twitter page almost daily although less so now as there isn’t a lot to say! It’s mostly a non-event though. Our record for traffic is still last year. We will do a full presentation on this but it’s basically people connected, network worked. Fixed network daytime usage much wider peak stays the same at around 15Tb/sec, NHS claps causes at 15% reduction, mobile traffic down 15%. What I'm still most curious about is whether there has been an appreciable decline in VoD streaming traffic for those providers who've had to clamp down on resolution. Mark.
