Australia’s internet speed holding up for now

AS more and more people stay home and as streaming services’ audiences increase, internet speed is under pressure.

And Australia’s broadband is just holding on, experts say.

Researchers at Monash University have looked at the world’s internet activity and created a global map that details the effect of COVID-19 on internet infrastructure.

To create the map, they looked at the difference in latency or speed issues affecting millions of internet global users since February when many countries entered major lock-downs

“More people at home means more people online,” Associate Professor Paul Raschky said.

“The situation is not dissimilar to a family trying to make their way through a crowded subway tunnel.”

Although internet quality is still relatively stable in Europe and North America, Dr Raschky claims that regions affected by the virus like Italy or Spain have shown signs of strain.

Across Australia’s major cities, the internet is holding up.

But areas like the ACT, South Australia and Victoria are showing initial signs of pressure.

“The signs for now in Australia are ‘steady’, but not entirely reassuring,” Dr Raschky said.

“We will keep monitoring the situation and plan to provide further reports as the Australian social distancing measures ramp up in the coming days.”

Broadband provider Optus announced it would support customers boosting additional data, and making all fixed broadband plans unlimited.

Telstra said it was offering personal and small business customers additional data, and offering unlimited standard home phone calls for pensioners.

– AAP