BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
The volume of the internet traffic consumed in Azerbaijan’s Baku and other major cities increased approximately by threefold on June 6-7, when the strict quarantine regime was applied within the fight against COVID-19, Executive Director of the Azerbaijani Association of Cable Operators Ali Aliyev told Trend.
“Internet providers stressed that the sharp increase in internet consumption has been conditioned by the strict quarantine regime, within which the entire population in big cities was in self-isolation and was maximally using the internet,” Aliyev added.
"According to the preliminary estimates, on average, internet traffic grew based on a monthly average of 300 gigabytes, while each connected household used an average of 100 gigabytes before the quarantine regime,” executive director added.
“According to some estimates, an absolute record for daily use of internet traffic was set in Azerbaijan on June 6-7,” executive director said. “The time of using the internet has grown up to 10 hours, while the average user surfed the internet within 3-4 hours before the quarantine regime.”
“During the quarantine regime in April and May, the use of internet traffic doubled at the rate of monthly use of up to 200 gigabytes,” Aliyev added. “Many people have switched to a remote mode of work at home, as well as distance learning. Of course, people used the entertainment platforms more often.”
“Despite the average internet consumption in the country grew by 25-30 percent, the traffic of providers rendering the services to households increased by several times through the migration of corporate internet users,” executive director said. “A sharp increase in internet usage resulted in the limitation of speed among users of a certain group as the average volume of traffic was not designed for such big loads.”
“Despite the dissatisfaction of users with the low speed of the internet, we must admit that providers focus on the average number of existing and expected users, as well as the average monthly consumption when purchasing internet traffic," Aliyev said.
“Even when creating internet packages for users in the 'no traffic restrictions' format, the providers take into account the average monthly consumption of internet by households in Azerbaijan in the amount of about 120 gigabytes,” executive director said. “Approximately, this amount of traffic is consumed by the family taking into account 4-5 electronic devices and 3-4 hours of daily video traffic consumption.”
“The growth in consumption of the said volume causes great economic damage to the providers who have to overpay to backbone network operators, that is, 'wholesalers' from whom providers buy internet traffic,” executive director said.
“During the past weekend, Azerbaijani providers have made every effort to provide their users with high-quality internet,” Aliyev said. “All resources were mobilized to provide the population with internet access, which for many people is a priority in obtaining content, information, training, etc.”
“The population must understand the reasons for the slow internet speed on June 6-7, when almost all internet users greatly consumed internet traffic,” executive director said. “As a result, the networks were greatly loaded.”
“The operators’ call centers worked intensively, informing users about the problem and giving advice on a 'wired' connection to the modem as Wi-Fi networks may greatly reduce the speed of internet due to interference,” Aliyev said.
“Indeed, many people complain about the decrease in internet speed when accessing via Wi-Fi,” Aliyev said. “There is such a problem and it is associated with an increase in the number of users with Wi-Fi routers in a limited area, which leads to the creation of interference in the frequencies by neighbors.”
“In accordance with some estimates, in case of such interference, the speed may decrease by 3-4 times or even more,” executive director said. “The optimal solution is a wired connection of the computer to the modem, which greatly increases the speed. For example, if through Wi-Fi the speed was about 20 Mbps, then a 'wired' connection will ensure above 40 Mbps.”
“While assuming that the tough quarantine regime may be applied in the future, we recommend all internet users to purchase cables to ensure an acceptable level of internet access,” executive director said.
“Each modem has several connectors for such a 'wired' connection, so on average, users will be able to connect up to 4-5 devices (computers, laptops, game consoles and Smart TVs) to them,” Aliyev added.
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