The volume of voice calls showed a significant increase in the epidemic of the coronavirus that causes more and more people want to hear the voices of loved ones, not being able to see them in person. According to the largest U.S. operator Verizon, the number of daily calls has reached 800 million, which is twice the number of calls for mother’s Day.
Pandemic coronavirus has led to the fact that phone calls become relevant again, reports the New York Times, citing the largest communication providers in the United States. While the Telecom companies are actively preparing for the increase in Internet traffic due to the fact that many people are forced to work from home, no one expected that subscribers will return to the old-fashioned voice calls, which have long been considered a throwback to the old era.
According to the largest U.S. operator Verizon, every day, the company handles an average of 800 million calls. This figure is two times more than the number of calls that Americans make on mother’s Day traditionally is the busiest for phone networks in the country.
Verizon also noted that the duration of calls increased by 33% compared to the calls before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. According to the statistics of another operator, AT&T, the number of telephone calls increased by 35%, while the volume of calls using Wi-Fi has doubled relative to the same indicator before the pandemic.
With regard to Internet traffic, then Verizon and AT&T noted its increase by 20-25%.
New interest in voice calls is surprising, given the steady decline in their popularity over the last few years. Calls using wireless technologies have replaced and pushed out of the market calls with your phone. However, the operators claim that the number of minutes that callers spend on “the voice”, over the last ten years practically has not changed — only changed the method of communication.
Now, the current crisis has caused the population of new needs.
“We became the nation that is calling as they never called. We need a human voice,” said Commissioner of the Federal communications Commission (FCC) of the United States Jessica Rosenworcel.
As noted by Executive Vice President of AT&T Chris Sambar, at the moment calls are used for private conversations, and work. In this case, if before the pandemic and the introduction of quarantine regulations most voice calls were observed in the morning and evening, now calls are made continuously throughout the day.
“Calls is a new killer feature. No one expected it,” said Sambar.
He added that AT&T and other providers have implemented a series of measures to ensure uninterrupted communication for everyone in the new conditions of increased demand.
“for years we watched as people spend less and less time on calls, especially on devices that support wireless technologies. The need to stay home again cause people need to stay connected, communicating with each other by voice,” agreed technical Director of Verizon’s Kyle Malady.
It is noted that the demand for voice calls has increased even among that generation of young people who grew up in the era of SMS messages and messengers.
