Coronavirus T.I.M. News Hub - week 19

Telecom traffic

Traffic levels are up due to the lock-downs in most countries. As a result, speeds come down. Verizon reports a leveling off, even a drop, week-on-week. Of note is the Sandvine report.

• Research: Brits’ Zoom, Houseparty usage soaring
• Data: UK lockdown drives TV to mobile usage levels
• Report: Global streaming up 57% YOY
• Telenet sees network traffic peaks of up to 70% during lockdown
• AMS-IX: piek dataverkeer in Caraibisch gebied
• Enea says Disney+ already uses 1-2% of mobile traffic in North America and Europe vs 7-15% for Netflix
• Verizon reports weekly drop in network traffic, plans to reopen more stores
• Italian download speeds fall up to 14% during lockdown - study
• Sandvine finds global internet traffic increased 38% in 2.5 months
• Belgian internet traffic up 40 percent since lockdown
• Epic data traffic up over 30% in April vs March
• Slovenian operators see up to 50% increase in data traffic during epidemic
• BEREC internet capacity reports now with broader scope

Telecom demand & supply

Operators, in response to the higher traffic levels, adjust their offerings.

• Telefonica offers free online training, discounts for Spanish SMEs
• TIM prolongs 'GigaCorona' unlimited data offer
• Spain's Pepephone renews free 5GB lockdown bundle
• Vodafone Greece offers free 20GB, 1,000 minutes to all mobile customers
• Orange Belgium to give free 4 GB mobile package to all fixed customers
• AT&T joins global Covid-19 fight
• The 5 Least Secure Video-Calling Apps, Reports Researcher

Telecom impact

Retail stores and offices were closed, but are now starting to reopen.

• Fastweb to partially reopen offices from 11 May, extend employee smart working
• IDC continues customer support programme, re-opens shops, expands network
• Orange Poland re-opens shops in commercial centres
• Play re-opens shops in commercial centres
• Ucom re-opens all its shops
• Algerie Telecom reopens all retail stores, undertakes not to disconnect customers during lockdown

Media events

Cinemas, theme parks and football competitions are about to be reopened or restarted.

• Hong Kong Cinemas Allowed To Reopen as Coronavirus Recedes
• U.K. Cinemas Proposing Late-June Reopening to Government
• Disneyland Shanghai to Reopen on May 11, Says CEO Bob Chapek
• Bundesliga given approval for mid-May resumption
• Chinese Authorities Say Cinemas May Now Reopen, as Cinephiles Rejoice

Media & Internet impact

Job and salary cuts.

• Music Piracy Is Going Old School in the Age of COVID-19
• Eleven Sports reduces staff in Portugal by 25%
• DAZN Spain waives subscription charges for 4 months - report
• F1 close to agreement on $145m budget cap
• NBCUniversal Senior Leaders to Take 20% Salary Cut Amid Coronavirus Crisis
• NBCU Cuts Top Exec Salaries By 20%, Rolls Back Some Other Salaries By 3%
• Sky TV makes top box sets available to all customers to ReWatch
• Coronavirus May Force Disney to Reevaluate Streaming Strategy
• Brits spend 3+ hours a day watching VoD services during lockdown - research
• Uber to lay off 3,700 employees, about 14% of workforce

Telecom relief funds

Some companies are receiving state aid, but others are creating relief funds or free services for others.

• Applications open for new EUR 2 mlm Covid-19 online retail scheme in Ireland
• Ceconomy receives approval for state financial aid
• Vodafone to provide EUR 100,000 to Portuguese musicians
• Operatoren leveren gratis diensten aan Belgisch corona-callcenter
• Telefonica staff donate EUR 600,000 in food vouchers to food banks
• AKAMAI FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GLOBAL COVID-19 CHARITABLE GIVING
• Telenor, PPF donate protective equipment to fight Covid-19 in Montenegro
• Digi donates medical equipment worth EUR 1.6 mln to hospitals
• Wind Hellas provides free communication, equipment to 500 mobile health units
• Telefonica to pay EUR 650 bonus to critical workers in May
• Verizon donates USD 1 mln to New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund

Media & Internet relief funds

Funds are created to support the sector or the healthcare business.

• Naspers delivers equipment for healthcare workers in South Africa
• Sky announces SME100, a £1 million AdSmart SME Support Scheme
• Google.org doubles COVID-19 donations to $100 million

Metadata

There is no shortage of apps in development to track the spread of the virus.

• Apple and Google prohibit location tracking in new contact tracing guidelines
• UK’s COVID-19 contact tracing app – will it work?
• UK finds itself almost alone with centralized virus contact-tracing app that probably won't work well, asks for your location, may be illegal
• UK considers changing Covid-19 app to Apple/Google model as privacy concerns mount
• Deutsche Telekom, SAP develop coronavirus tracing app with backing from non-profit tech start-up alliance
• A city in India is ordering all of its residents to download the government's controversial COVID-19 contact tracing app or face jail time
• COVID contact tracing for the workplace without smartphones, via LoRaWAN