Data traffic on KPN network grew 40% during 'corona'
Rotterdam, June 30, 2021 - Due in part to the coronavirus, the total data traffic on the KPN fixed network grew considerably in last 16 months, with about 40% more traffic than in February 2020. This is double the normal annual growth in data traffic. Upload traffic actually increased by approximately 50% over the past two years (YoY), driven mainly by the many video calls and the increased popularity of gaming. Consequently, uploading - and therefore fiber, which offers the same high speed for both downloading and uploading - is becoming increasingly important.
Rotterdam, June 30, 2021 - Due in part to the coronavirus, the total data traffic on the KPN fixed network grew considerably in last 16 months, with about 40% more traffic than in February 2020. This is double the normal annual growth in data traffic. Upload traffic actually increased by approximately 50% over the past two years (YoY), driven mainly by the many video calls and the increased popularity of gaming. Consequently, uploading - and therefore fiber, which offers the same high speed for both downloading and uploading - is becoming increasingly important.
"The network of the Netherlands can cope well with the increased traffic, partly because in recent months we have invested extra in our networks to facilitate the substantial growth in traffic," says Paul Slot, responsible for KPN's infrastructure. "For example, we have expanded the capacity and monitoring of our networks several times over the past year. Peering capacity has increased too and we have achieved additional redundancy. This not only allows us to shift to alternative routes for data traffic in the event of malfunctions, but we also have extra peak capacity available for the busiest moments."
KPN is still experiencing more traffic on its network than before corona. In short, a lot of people in the Netherlands are still working from home. For example, in the period May/June 2021, we saw 25% more 'remote working data traffic' than in the same period in 2020. At the same time, lockdown data records are no longer being broken. Since the May holidays, a lot of the remote working data traffic has not returned, so you can draw the conclusion that more people are going into the office again. At the same time, the 'sawtooth wave' is still visible in our network, so a lot of people in the Netherlands are still working from home. With a peak every hour and every half hour because people dial into a conference call (such as Teams & Zoom). 10.00, 11.00 and 14.00 are the most popular times for a video call.
New records likely
Records are likely to be broken soon: after all, we will continue to work from home more after corona and autumn is traditionally always a busier period. In addition, the general trend is that data traffic will continue to grow in the coming years. KPN also sees seasonal influences in its network, such as periods of frost and ice, and it is generally a bit quieter when the weather is good. After the summer holidays, there is traditionally a rise in traffic in September when people go back to school, go back at work, and return to their daily routines. Events such as large-scale streaming concerts, the Eurovision Song Contest and UEFA EURO 2020 can also be seen on KPN's network.
During almost all the matches peaks are clearly visible, on both KPN's fixed and mobile networks. It is also noticeable that during the matches there is a reduction in traffic to streaming services such as Netflix. And the Dutch EURO 2020 games were also watched on mobile phones by large numbers of people. Total mobile data traffic grew by more than 30% when the Netherlands played Austria on June 17.