COVID-19 impact: Internet providers in Kerala to increase speed by 30-40%

The move will be beneficial for those working in IT companies

With most of the companies asking employees to work from home amid the COVID-19 outbreak, employees are facing slow internet speeds. In order to address this problem, Kerala government has asked internet service providers to increase internet speed by 30-40 per cent.

Internet service providers in Kerala have agreed to step up the network capacity by 30-40 per cent of the present capacity to meet the demand arising from the situation, especially in view of a spurt in work-from-home mode.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by the representatives of various telecom service providers in Kerala circle and officials of the Telecommunication Department, convened by the Secretary, Electronics and IT following a direction by Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan to look into the issue.

The decision will be beneficial to those working in IT institutions. The government has come out with a set of suggestions to avoid social gatherings in public places in view of Coronavirus spread. Telecom service providers have assured the government that they are well equipped to face the current situation, according to a government release.

The major part of Internet consumption in Kerala is made available through local servers. Moreover, global Internet traffic is very low compared to the overall consumption. So, increasing the capacity will not be difficult, service providers said.

Any complaints regarding low availability of internet due to the spurt in consumption can be made to the service providers on their customer care number or by calling the state government call centre (155300). However, complaints regarding insufficiency in the current network infrastructure should be strictly avoided, said the release.

The IT Department will also demand daily reports from various telecom service providers. By analyzing these reports, steps for remedies will be taken, said the department.