There are 78 new cases of Covid-19, including 73 confirmed cases and five new probable cases, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says. The new cases bring the total number of confirmed or probable infections to 283.
Internet use in New Zealand hit a new record yesterday and edged closer to the maximum capacity of network operator Chorus.
"The peak traffic last night on the Chorusnetwork reached 2.84 terabits per second on Thursday - but the company reassures that it is still "comfortably within available headroom."
The network operator has previously put its maximum peak capacity at 3.5Tbps.
Before the lockdown, Chorus' all-time peak was the 2.6Tbps hit during the Rugby World Cup 2019.
Last night's peak is a new record on the Chorus network, surpassing the previous peak of 2.75Tbps earlier this week.
Overall, the peak has increased 24% from the normal baseline.
Photo / 123rf
Despite the working from home surge, which as seen many workers replace email or shouting across cubicles with video chat, the heaviest traffic is still in the evenings.
A move by streaming giant Netflix to cut its bitrate (the amount of internet capacity it uses) by 25 per cent dampened the increase earlier this week, but last night it was at a new hight.
Chorus says its network "continues to perform well."
For end-users, the telecommunications network has been patchy. Congestion meant Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees customers had problems getting voice calls to connect on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the problem starting to ease yesterday. And on Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon, Vodafone suffered broadband outages.
This morning, Chorus said it continues to work with the retail service providers [such as Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees] to ensure the points in the network where we handover traffic between one another also remain congestion-free."
Central North Island UFB network operator Ultrafast Fibre (UFF) has tracked similar increases in daytime and evening broadband use amid the Covid-19 scare then lockdown. Graph / Supplied
Chorus says the increase in traffic was expected as households settle in to the COVID-19 lockdown. As new behaviour patterns settle during the lockdown, the network operator expects traffic levels to reach a steady state.
While many stocks have been battered by the virus scare, with companies suspending guidance, Chorus told the NZX this morning that it could reaffirm its 2020 earnings forecast.
The company also now expects lower spending, due to a lot of fieldwork and new-connection being suspended for the duration of the lockdown.
oh great. just what we need now. wonder when we are going implement traffic shaping to drop priority of streaming and gaming services to allow people to continue to work from home? https://t.co/OdvMamefdf
