Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Internet traffic

Conference paper (2021)

Authors

Anja Feldmann Max Planck Institut für Informatik
Oliver Gasser Max Planck Institut für Informatik
Oliver Hohlfeld BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
G. Smaragdakis Max Planck Institut für Informatik, Technical University of Berlin
Franziska Lichtblau Max Planck Institut für Informatik
Eric Pujol BENOCS GmbH
Igmar Poese BENOCS GmbH
Juan Tapiador Carlos III University of Madrid
Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez ICSI, IMDEA Networks Institute
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Published Date

2021

Language

English

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Abstract

In this paper, we report on a measurement study by researchers from several institutions that collected and analyzed network data to assess the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 (February-June 2020) on the Internet traffic. The datasets from Internet Service Providers, Internet Exchange Points, and academic networks, primarily in Europe, provide a unique view on the changes of Internet traffic due to pandemic and the lockdown that forced hundreds of millions of citizens to stay and work from home. The analysis shows that the increase of Internet traffic was about 15-20 % within a couple of weeks, an increase that is typically spread over multiple months under typical operation. However, traffic during peak hours does not increase by more than 5 %. The increase was noticeably higher for specific applications, e.g., remote work applications, teleconferencing, video on demand; in some cases up to 200 %. However, overall, the Internet reacted well to these unprecedented times.