After the corona-related closure of restaurants and leisure facilities, little has changed in the way German citizens use the internet. At Vodafone, the fixed network data volume used increased by seven percent in the week from last Monday compared to the previous week. But in the week of March, when much tougher corona rules took effect, many office workers switched to home office and exchanged views with their colleagues in video conferences, the plus was 40 percent in Compared to the previous week.

No major effects of the new restrictions The Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica have not reported any major corona effects since the beginning of November. In the Telekom fixed network, the maximum values ​​for data usage (peaks) in the past week were at the level of March, as the company announced. However, this also has seasonal effects – in spring and summer, people are generally more outside and less at home in front of the television or laptop.

Telefónica registered on the other hand, “no special peaks due to the partial lockdown,” said a company spokesman. The cuts of the current measures are not as far-reaching as they were in March. Retail, schools and daycare centers are still open and many people have been largely working from home since March. “There was no renewed migration of data usage there like in the spring. There was now no big new wave.”

Big difference to the previous year Compared to the previous year – i.e. before the corona pandemic – the difference in data usage is clear: At Vodafone, the fixed-line data volume soared from the beginning of November 2019 until the beginning of November 2020 by almost 40 Percent up, and the landline phone was used significantly more. “People surf the web and make more phone calls because they work from home, learn and stay in contact with their friends,” said Vodafone’s chief technology officer, Gerhard Mack.

“In the evenings there are more often the good old ones Movies evening with the family. ” The highest data throughput (“peak time”) is currently at Vodafone in the evening around 21 o’clock. However: Part of the increase in data compared to the previous year is due to the general trend towards more data-intensive applications in the network.

(mho)