Comcast's Network Absorbs Increased Work and Play Traffic

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code BARINDTECH wordcount 588 wordcount|588 id facebook id|facebook news_tab_url https://www.barrons.com/articles/comcast-network-increased-traffic-downloads-upload-work-from-home-vieo-streaming-games-51585598273 Photograph by Jordan Harrison Comcast’s Network Absorbs Increased Traffic as People Work and Play From Home Comcast’s Network Absorbs Increased Traffic as People Work and Play From Home Comcast’s Network Absorbs Increased Traffic as People Work and Play From Home

Comcast said its network is performing well with no slowdowns, despite additional traffic as a large number of Americans work from home in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Comcast’s Network Absorbs Increased Work and Play Traffic

Comcast said its network is performing well with no slowdowns, despite additional traffic as a large number of Americans work from home in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19/network mailto:eric.savitz@barrons.com Comcast’s Network Absorbs Increased Traffic as People Work and Play From Home By Eric J. Savitz Photograph by Jordan Harrison Peak download times occur earlier in the evening, around 7:30 p.m. now from 9 p.m. before March 1.

Comcast said its network is performing well with no slowdowns, despite additional traffic as a large number of Americans work from home in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tony Werner, Comcast’s president of Technology, Product and Xperience, said in a media briefing Monday that overall peak traffic is up 32% from before the onset of the virus, with peak traffic up as much as 60% in some markets, including Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago, where the impact of the virus has been severe. He also noted that Comcast (ticker: CMCSA) has a strategy of adding network capacity 12 to 18 months ahead of expected peaks. That has given the company the ability to absorb the additional traffic even during this unexpected crisis.

Werner noted that peak traffic times have shifted post-virus. Peak download times occur earlier in the evening, around 7:30 p.m. now from 9 p.m. before March 1, possibly reflecting the absence of commuting as most people work from home. Werner also said the typical prime-time spike isn’t longer, but instead is shifting earlier. Meanwhile, peak data upload has shifted to work hours, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., from 9 p.m. previously. He noted that in both Seattle and San Francisco, among the first cities with stay-at-home orders, traffic is plateauing.

He said speed trends are holding up well, with 110% to 115% of stated speeds on average across the network. Werner said the company is running 700,000 speed tests across the network on a daily basis.

Comcast said video conferencing and voice over IP traffic is up 212%, with VPN traffic up 40%. Gaming downloads have spiked 50% to 80%, with some fluctuations based on the timing of new releases. (Werner noted that game downloads, not game play, drive traffic spurts.) Streaming video is up 38%, while linear video consumption is up four hours a week on average per household to 64 hours. Video on demand is up 25% year over year.

The company noted that the dramatic shift to working from home has changed the way some people use data on their mobile devices—the company has seen a 10% drop in LTE network data, while WiFi data on mobile devices is up 24%.

As for reports that suggest there has been a slowdown in Internet traffic speeds, Werner is skeptical. He finds those reports questionable, and says Comcast isn’t seeing signs of slowing on its network. He said that while some video providers have reduced bit rates or video quality, in particular in response to concerns in Europe, Comcast hasn’t requested that any providers do so.

Comcast stock was up 2.3%, to $35.38 Monday afternoon, closely tracking the 2.8% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Write to Eric J. Savitz at eric.savitz@barrons.com