With many firms in Singapore making the big decision to implement home working for their staff, the effects of increased broadband and data usage have been knocking hard on the doors of Singapore's leading ISP (Internet Service Providers).
According to the major service providers in Singapore, there has been a reported 60 per cent rise in total internet data traffic over the last 30 days. Big players such as Singtel and Starhub, have seen huge surges in demand, while MyRepublic, retailers of potentially the fastest broadband services across Singapore, have reported the biggest overall rise in daytime home-based internet usage.
Although Singapore has seen such a huge rise in demand for broadband and data usage, the majority of internet service providers are only having to deal with monitoring increased activity. There have been few complaints compared to countries based in Europe, as well as the United States. Singapore's previous plans to ensure ultra-fast fibre broadband for all have certainly paid off, with home working looking just as efficient as working from the premise for most companies.
Starhub Faces Service Troubles
Surge in home working impacts Singapore's ISP
Widely regarded as one of the lowest cost internet service providers, at least when it comes to their standard 500Mbps - 1Gbps packages, Starhub have been the first pin to fall as a result of surges in broadband usage from home.
Starhub customers began reporting poor speeds and intermittent issues from 11 am (15th April 2020), the reports peaked at around 11:30 am, before plateauing after 4-5 pm and service resuming back to normal around 8:20 pm the same day.
Users reported that video conference applications such as Zoom and Skype were cut off mid-call, but applications like Whatsapp and access to emails were working as usual.
Due to heavy scrutiny from businesses and homeowners across Singapore, the IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) has launched an investigation into the service disruption, especially because Starhub wasn't operating at full capacity based on customer usage at one time, as well as taking into account the current situation of movement restrictions.
On the other end of the spectrum - ViewQwest
Surge in home working impacts Singapore's ISP
Mesh WIFI specialist ViewQwest has recently announced special benefits for its customers in the wake of the COVID-19 movement control orders. Customers who are subscribed on certain speeds will experience improved speeds between the 6th of April until the 8th of May.
Those using a 100Mbps package will be able to surf the internet and stream movies with speeds up to five times as fast, ViewQwest is providing these customers with a 500Mbps speed upgrade. Customers who are subscribed on a 500Mbps service will also benefit, with the internet service provider doubling their speeds to up to 1Gbps.
Measures like these are something definitely needed on a global scale should companies continue to see dropping speeds when implementing home broadband plans for their staff. Having an upgrade on speeds can make a huge difference, not only to completing work, but for streaming movies and video calls during peak times.
Singapore's Internet Service Providers see share prices roller coaster
Surge in home working impacts Singapore's ISP
If anything was inevitable in the wake of this pandemic, it would be company's share prices becoming volatile, even for prices of essential internet service providers in Singapore.
Singtel has gone from trading at year highs of S$3.30 per share, dropping to around S$2 per share in March. Singtel's share price has now recovered more than half of its losses as Singapore continues to (somewhat) manage their recent clusters of COVID-19 cases.
Starhub saw its share price drop down to S$1.10 back in the second half of March, meaning it fared a little better than Singtel, its highs for 2020 were at around S$1.50 per share. Starhub's share price has since taken on the same resurgence trend, and is now trading at S$1.42 per share.
Internet service providers are a surprising loser (in terms of share prices) as a result of the effects the pandemic has caused. It just goes to show that even those services in full demand can still give investors little confidence.
For small businesses that are still in the process of arranging home working, it is vital that they acquire the best and most affordable (if necessary) equipment for their staff to use at home. Companies should consider looking into ViewQwest & My Republic, as they specialise in router plans aimed for gamers and small-to-medium sized enterprises.
Singapore is lucky in the fact that people here benefit from having a wide choice of great internet service providers, with some of the fastest average speeds globally. It's no wonder that there are far fewer complaints across Singapore's internet service providers, compared to other countries, while we work through these uncertain times.
Thank you for reading 'Surge in home working impacts Singapore's ISP' by IT Block. IT Block is an IT support services provider in Singapore and a registered Google News source.
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