Since the outbreak of COVID-19, more people are working from home, and a change seems to be happening in the way we make use of remote communication.
More of our meetings and interactions are estabished via the internet and by using computer screens, a.o. through user-friendly applications such as Google Meet.
Indeed, the two largest Belgian telecom operators reported sharp declines in the use of text messages and phone calls on new year's eve, to the benefit of landline internet.
At Telenet, 4,308,084 texts were sent, a decrease of 47% compared to the previous year-end period. With 100,277 Gigabytes of mobile data, there was a decrease of 24%. Proximus, which covers the entire country, saw 7,347,379 text messages sent that same evening, or a decline of 37% compared to last year. In contrast with the previous numbers, there was a significant increase in the use of landline internet at both operators on New Year's Eve. At Proximus, use of landline internet was 86% higher than last year.
Audiovisual communication via the internet is here to stay.
ON3FDS - Freddy De Schuiteneer
