New Year’s Eve events led to spikes in mobile data usage in Taiwan, as partygoers streamed fireworks displays and sent friends and family wishes for the new year, figures released by the nation’s four largest telecoms showed.
Chunghwa Telecom said that Friday’s data usage was the highest the company had ever seen, with usage at 20 sites being at least five times higher than usual.
Data usage near Taipei 101 exceeded normal rates by at least 10 times, while usage at the site of Kaohsiung’s New Year’s countdown was six times higher than usual, company data showed.
Photo: CNA
More than 80 percent of Chunghwa Telecom users at the sites streamed the fireworks on social media such as Facebook, Line and Instagram, or exchanged new year’s messages — including videos and photographs — with family and friends through social media.
Far EasTone estimated that its subscribers’ data usage was 1.2 times higher than last year, adding that the number of voice messages sent and calls made was 1.5 times higher than usual.
The amount of data downloaded through its 4G networks was 2.5 times higher than usual, while uploads exceeded normal levels 20-fold, Far EasTone said.
Downloads through its 5G networks were 12 times higher than usual and uploads were 80 times higher, the company added.
Calls exceeded normal levels 10-fold, it said.
Asia Pacific Telecom recorded a 3.1-fold increase in data usage near sites where celebrations were held, with usage peaking about 15 minutes before and after midnight.
Uploads exceeded normal levels 6.5-fold, while data usage at hot spots, such as Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), sites near Kaohsiung’s main event at Dream Mall and Taichung’s Shueinan Park (水湳公園), was 10 times higher than normal, Asia Pacific said.
Taiwan Star Telecom said that data usage on its networks increased 50 percent, while streaming and sending pictures and videos increased 60 percent.
Overall data usage was three times the normal rate, it said.
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