Akamai sees internet traffic growth easing to pre-covid levels in 2021

Pune: After a lockdown-fueled spike in 2020, global internet traffic growth is likely to ease to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, Akamai Technologies Inc. has said.

And while a lot of changes—preference for e-commerce and remote working—could become permanent, overall internet traffic growth would stabilise, Tom Leighton, chief executive at the global content delivery network told ET. “Our business was geared to supporting this, and we have accelerated our efforts,” he said.

But even as things start to normalise next year, Leighton expects newer areas to drive growth in internet traffic. Remote learning will get more popular, as will online collaboration, he said. “Things we are seeing now will become much more permanent. For instance, It will be a long time before you have 1,000 people packed into a room for a marketing event,” said Leighton.