Broadband Usage Skyrockets During Ongoing Health Crisis

TNBA Members See Increased Demand as More Connect to Work and School from Home

Tennessee Broadband Association (TNBA) members are seeing dramatic increases in bandwidth usage as the recent COVID-19 health pandemic highlights the importance of broadband.

The ongoing health crisis is forcing many to work from home, while students access education through distance learning and more people are receiving health care online through telemedicine.

Chris Townson, general manager at DTC Communications, has seen a 209% increase in average customer bandwidth utilization since the pandemic began.

“A robust, broadband internet connection has been an important part of life for some time,” Townson says. “The pandemic, however, has shown us just how critical it is for business, education, economic development, and entertainment. There is almost no part of our daily lives that broadband isn’t supporting.”

Since the beginning of 2020, caching for DTC members has increased more than 65%, and streaming has essentially doubled.

“Our network’s top application is now SSL VPN, or people working from home,” Townson says. “It is clear that bandwidth is king, and DTC, along with our TNBA sister companies, continues to rise to the challenge so Tennesseans are served with the critical broadband connectivity essential to a higher quality of life.”

Bob Mouser, vice president, and general manager of Hometown Services for Ritter Communications, which is based in Jonesboro, Arkansas, but also serves customers in West Tennessee, said he has seen demand for broadband increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since mid-March, requests for service and requests for upgrades in service have doubled over the same time last year,” he says.

Mouser says this highlights how vital broadband is in today’s world.

“I’m very proud to be in the industry we are in and helping people through this crisis — being able to school from home and work from home,” he says.