Brace yourself for slower data speeds

Kolkata: Consumers of mobile and home broadband services may soon have to brace for sharp slowdowns in data speeds, dropped video calls or heavy buffering as India Inc asks staff to increasingly work from home to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Experts and analysts say existing telecoms infrastructure belonging to Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm may be ill equipped to handle any sudden countrywide upsurge in home internet consumption, given the continuing spectrum crunch, low fiberisation levels and poor wired broadband penetration.