The coronavirus pandemic increased the importance of online communication as already shown by traffic data at last Christmas. That time, holiday traffic was up 30% on Telenor’s network compared to the non-pandemic year before which was probably attributable partly to more video calls between distant family members. Although this Christmas offered more opportunity for meeting in person, many people still shared their Christmas greetings with each other remotely to be on the safe side. As a result, mobile internet traffic was 15% higher between 24 and 26 December than in the same period a year ago.
Despite rising traffic, people put their smartphones aside during the holidays
Despite the steady annual rise of holiday network traffic, total data, voice and SMS traffic on 24 December was lower than in the pre-Christmas period. Network traffic was back to its pre-Christmas level by 26 December. Presumably, traffic on 24 December was mostly generated by videochat calls with friends and family, while people used the internet more to share their experience or access streaming services for entertainment on 25 and 26 December.