COVID-19 and Broadband Speeds: A Multi-Country Analysis

Abstract

COVID-19 has forced the residents of many nations to shelter-in-place, either by choice or by mandate. As a result, Internet use has skyrocketed, putting stress on both fixed and mobile broadband networks. In this BULLETIN, I take an early look at the performance of broadband networks with respect to download speeds. Using weekly speed data for fixed and mobile networks for months preceding and following March 2020, I find sizable reductions in speed for several countries, but also some increases in speed. Larger negative effects appear more often for lower-income countries and those with slower networks, with a few exceptions including France. Significantly, fixed networks in the United States were resilient to the traffic surges; there were no statistically-significant changes in download speeds. Mobile networks in the United States, alternately, were found to have a statistically-significant increase in download speeds.