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Sure records broadband usage spike on last bank holiday of 2020
The last bank holiday of the year, Monday 28th December 2020, saw the greatest home broadband usage over the Sure Network in Guernsey in December, with 236TB of data used across the island (12.1GB per household). This was on average 25% more data than any other day in December.
Despite a huge increase in home broadband demand, Sure’s network met the increased demand and continues to have spare capacity.
Sure’s Chief Executive in Guernsey, Justin Bellinger, suspects the high data usage on the 28th was a result of islanders earmarking the day as one to relax by streaming movies or catch-up TV and trying out new technology gifts.
Justin said: “Streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon’s Prime Video, which was showing two Premier League matches on the 28th, would have been contributing factors to the spike. As well as usage from customers on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which would have made great presents this Christmas. I expect many gamers used Christmas week to download large update files to get their new consoles set up.
When the new PlayStation5 launched in November, many UK telecoms providers reported large spikes in broadband activity with a peak of 18TB per second as users downloaded sizeable system updates.
Sure has played a critical role in providing connectivity for the community this festive season as well as throughout 2020 when thousands of islanders needed to work and learn from home.
“Guernsey’s lockdown last year presented a challenge for our broadband network and I’m pleased to say that it passed with flying colours. We make a significant investment every year so that islanders have the best networks available to them and that’s proven to have benefited Guernsey once again over the festive season,” said Justin.