Paul Robinson, General Manager at Openreach explains
It seems scarcely believable that just a month ago, towns and cities across the country were packed with shoppers and workers going about their daily business.
Life was as close to what used to pass for normal. But since then, everything has changed.
Our homes have become much more than just places to live. They’re doubling up as offices and school classrooms. We’re still able to socialise, but online please rather than in person.
This huge lifestyle change places great pressure on the broadband network and here at Openreach – the UK’s biggest provider used by customers of BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Plusnet and Vodafone – we’re keeping people connected.
A question we’ve been asked lots recently is can the network cope? Are you able to handle all these extra people working from home and spending more time online? The short answer is yes, we’re not experiencing any issues and we don’t anticipate any.
Unsurprisingly internet traffic is up compared to before stay at home restrictions were put in place. Most of that increase is during the daytime, not surprising given the number of people now at home. We’ve even seen a small increase that coincides with the 9am start of Joe Wicks online workout class.
During the evening, network traffic remains pretty much unchanged. And still well below the more extreme peaks we experienced just before Christmas when Amazon live streamed multiple Premier League matches at the same time.
With our frontline engineers identified as designated key workers by the Government, you may still see our vans out and about. New network build has been restricted though, so that’s impacted us being able to carry out surveys and Full Fibre installations in apartment buildings. We’ll progress with the installation of a gigabit capable infrastructure for apartment buildings as soon as we can.
Recently, we’ve seen an increase in incidents where our engineers are being subjected to mindless verbal abuse or intimidation linked to a bogus 5G theory.
It’s not only deeply concerning but totally misjudged. They’re playing a vital role in connecting crucial public services, vulnerable customers and millions of friends, families and businesses.
They are closely following government guidance in terms of social distancing and focused on the repair and maintenance of connections that support critical national infrastructure.
This work includes the NHS – where our engineers have been installing and upgrading phone and broadband services in support of the new Nightingale hospitals.
They’re also prioritising pharmacies, emergency services, retail and wholesale food distribution outlets, public services, vulnerable customers and those without any service.
We thank each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication in supporting the national effort during these unprecedented times.
