Latest connectivity publications

The latest research from Cisco says that global internet traffic will reach 4.8 zetabytes a year in 2022, or 150,700 gigabytes a second. Video will represent at least 80 per cent of the total internet traffic. That research was published before the current coronavirus pandemic, which may well have a dramatic change in the shape and per-type breakdown of global internet traffic as face-to-face meetings are being overwhelmingly replaced with video conference calls and live video streaming. For example, NAB, the biggest event of the year in media production and distribution, has recently announced it will switch to a virtual conference for the 2020 year, with live presentations and meetings taking place via video streamed over the web.

Netflix has said it will temporarily reduce the quality of videos on its platform to ease pressure on internet service providers during the coronavirus outbreak. The platform, which is home to shows including Stranger Things and The Crown, will drop the video bit rate for 30 days, following calls from the EU’s European Commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton.

Mobile working is becoming the reality for an increasing number of public sector staff. From paramedics to healthcare workers and police officers, working remotely is part of daily routine for many in the sector. But the threat and impact brought by the novel coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak has seen many organisations instructing office-based employees to work remotely, i.e., from home, as a way to minimise the risk of infection and spreading of the virus.

Communication and collaboration tool Microsoft Teams suffered problems as people across the UK and Europe work from home due to the coronavirus. The tech giant said it was looking into “messaging-related functionality problems” on the platform just before 9am on Monday. At 10.49am, the firm tweeted that “chat impact has been mitigated”. It comes as a growing number of businesses opt for remote working to avoid spreading Covid-19, as well as universities moving classes online.

Security experts have warned that criminals are using people’s fears over the coronavirus crisis to target victims online. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said “opportunistic” cyber criminals are using the deadly outbreak to launch online attacks. Clicking on to the links on bogus emails which say they have important updates has led to devices being infected.