{"id":355893,"date":"2020-06-17T13:33:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T11:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=355893"},"modified":"2020-06-17T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T11:36:35","slug":"interesting-mobile-data-and-whatsapp-call-activity-during-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/355893-interesting-mobile-data-and-whatsapp-call-activity-during-lockdown.html","title":{"rendered":"Interesting mobile data and Whatsapp call activity during lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

The national lockdown has seen many South Africans relying on mobile data and various communications platforms to stay in touch while physically isolated.<\/p>\n

This has resulted in an increase in both Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call volumes and data usage, according to South African mobile networks.<\/p>\n

VoIP calling includes platforms such as WhatsApp calls, in addition to Skype and Facebook Messenger calling.<\/p>\n

To assist mobile networks in dealing with increased traffic, ICASA has allocated temporary spectrum to South African mobile networks.<\/p>\n

This spectrum was allocated as follows:<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Temporary Spectrum<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Operator<\/strong><\/td>\n700\/800MHz<\/strong><\/td>\n2,300MHz<\/strong><\/td>\n2,600MHz<\/strong><\/td>\n3,500MHz<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vodacom<\/strong><\/td>\n40MHz<\/td>\n20MHz<\/td>\n50MHz<\/td>\n50MHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MTN<\/strong><\/td>\n40MHz<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n50MHz<\/td>\n50MHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\n40MHz<\/td>\n20MHz<\/td>\n40MHz<\/td>\n12MHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rain<\/strong><\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n30MHz<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Liquid<\/strong>\u00a0Telecom<\/strong><\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n4MHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This spectrum has allowed Vodacom to fast track the launch<\/strong><\/a> of its 5G network, with MTN<\/strong><\/a> set to follow in its footsteps later this month.<\/p>\n

It has also helped networks to cope with congestion and increased demand in population-dense areas.<\/p>\n

MyBroadband spoke with South African networks to learn more about COVID-19 trends pertaining to VoIP call volumes and data usage.<\/p>\n

\n

MTN<\/h3>\n

MTN executive for corporate affairs Jacqui O\u2019Sullivan said that they have seen a notable rise in both traditional and VoIP calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally (pre-lockdown) there had been a decrease in the usage of traditional call minutes while VoIP usage continued to grow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increased usage of 3G and 4G devices may contribute to VoIP popularity, however at this point consumers continue to utilise traditional voice calls and whilst there is still a need, MTN will continue serving its customers on both fronts.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan also said there has been an increase in data usage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen a spike, particularly on social platforms, Netflix, DStv and gaming data consumption,\u201d said O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n

She said that consumption rates have also shifted in accordance with the location of consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has certainly been a shift in geographic consumption, with very low usage in CBDs and higher than normal usage in suburbs,\u201d said O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n

\"MTN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Vodacom<\/h3>\n

Vodacom said that while traditional voice calls were lower during lockdown than had previously been the case, it is starting to see a recovery towards historical trends.<\/p>\n

In contrast, it said, VoIP traffic saw an “atypical increase,” and said that Wi-Fi offloading was a contributing factor to this.<\/p>\n

Vodacom also saw an increase in demand for mobile data products.<\/p>\n

“WhatsApp bundles were particularly more popular in April,” it said.<\/p>\n

\"Vodacom<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Cell C<\/h3>\n

Cell C said is has seen varied increases in traffic across the different levels of lockdown.<\/p>\n

This has spanned both voice and mobile data traffic, it said.<\/p>\n

“Data consumption increased sharply over the initial level 5 lockdown and has dropped back slightly since level 4 and 3,” said Cell C.<\/p>\n

“We have seen an increase in collaboration tools like [Microsoft] Teams and Zoom as more people adopt these during WFH [Work From Home].”<\/p>\n

Cell C added that streaming has increased during lockdown because more people have been spending time online entertaining themselves.<\/p>\n

“There has also been a significant increase in traffic to zero-rated public websites such as to higher education institutions,” it said.<\/p>\n

\"Cell<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Telkom<\/h3>\n

Telkom said it could not comment on call and mobile data usage.<\/p>\n

\"Telkom<\/a><\/h3>\n

Now read: Android 11 beta launched \u2013 Here are the new features<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Than national lockdown has resulted in an increase in both call volumes and data usage, according to South African mobile networks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341039,"featured_media":168223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37382,16536,35],"class_list":["post-355893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-telecoms","tag-call-volumes","tag-data-usage","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356393,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355893\/revisions\/356393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}