Thiruvananthapuram: Following the outbreak of COVID-19, internet service providers in Kerala, on Thursday agreed to step up the network capacity by 30 to 40 percent, to meet the demand arising from the situation, especially in view of spurt in work-at-home mode.
Numerous IT companies in the state have allowed their employees to work from home in the wake of 14 cases of COVID-19 being reported and about 3000 people under observation at homes and in hospitals.
The decision to step up capacity was taken at a meeting of representatives of various telecom service providers in Kerala Circle and officials of the Telecommunication Department convened by the Secretary, Electronics and IT based on a directive from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Companies including Reliance Jio, BSNL, Vodafore, Airtel, Tata Tele Services and Central Power Grid Corporation agreed to to step up the network capacity. Telecom service providers have assured the government that they are well equipped to face the current situation.
The major part of Internet consumption in Kerala is made available through local servers. Moreover, with global Internet traffic very low compared to the overall consumption and hence increasing the capacity won't be difficult.
In order to monitor the bandwidth, data will be collected from telecom companies at 12 pm every day, said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-Operation, Tourism and Devaswom in a Facebook post.
(With inputs from IANS)
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