How Covid-19 Changed Americans’ Internet Habits

Internet usage soared 25% within a few days in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic started forcing Americans to stay home and is bound to remain substantially higher than before the pandemic. The increased internet usage has pushed broadband providers to perform round-the-clock enhancements on their networks, in hopes of minimizing hiccups to connection and speed. Quarterly broadband subscribership and revenue for these companies have shot up as more people in need of at-home internet service and signing up for faster, and more costly, speeds. Internet usage gradually slowed after the end of March, and fell more rapidly as some states began reopening in May, only to rise again in June as coronavirus infections rebounded.