An organization of local telecommunications firms (telcos), the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators (PCTO), is calling the public to use the internet more responsibly after the government imposed an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
Companies are now enabling employees to work from home, following the declaration of Malacañang for people to restrict their movements to mitigate the rapid spread of the coronavirus. As communities are called upon to practice physical distancing, telcos now play a vital role in sustaining economic activity in the country. Employees now turn to the internet as their only alternative to face-to-face meetings.
Forecasting increased network traffic from home internet users, Philippine internet service providers are asking customers to be conscientious in using connected apps and services.
“We expect internet usage to grow exponentially, given the government directive to work from home. Presently, we have enough capacity with the investments we’ve made into our network in the past years, but since the internet is a shared resource, we encourage our customers to still use the internet responsibly and refrain from using torrents that hog bandwidth and negatively impact others,” said PCTO Chairman Enrico de los Reyes.
Unlike robust enterprise networks used by businesses, home and mobile broadband networks may become strained quickly, with more users accessing the Internet simultaneously.
As a precautionary measure, customers are urged to adhere to these best practices to minimize strain on the network and ensure quality customer experience:
– Use landline as much as possible to decongest call traffic from mobile networks
– Download urgent documents only. Other documents should be downloaded during off-peak hours
– Heavy files should be transferred via sharing services and attached as links instead of as attachments to emails
– Use of entertainment apps, such as video streaming and gaming, is encouraged during off-peak hours.