How we used the internet during COVID-19

Australians have set a record for internet usage after the country was forced into lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

Australians have set a record for the highest data ever downloaded in the history of the National Broadband Network.

In early August, download rates almost doubled to 16.2 terra bits per second on the pre-COVID traffic baseline.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher on Wednesday announced a $3.5 billion upgrade to the NBN, which will deliver “ultra fast” internet of one gigabyte per second to eight million homes.

Mr Fletcher told the National Press Club the coronavirus pandemic had supercharged changes in customer behaviour with people working and studying at home.

“The amount of data being downloaded during the day, with so many people working from home, was up around 70 per cent on pre-COVID-19 levels,” he said.

“Video conferencing requires uploads as well as downloads, so … uploads are up nearly 110 per cent.”

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Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has announced a $3.5 billion upgrade of the National Broadband Network. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Mr Fletcher said the average Australian downloads about 3.6 terra bites of content annually.

“It equates to about 10,000 hours of streaming music, 3000 hours of surfing the web, 14,000 social media posts, 1400 hours of high definition video streaming or 1200 hours of gaming,” he said.

In 2010, the average amount of data downloaded was just 10 gigabytes per month.

But come December 2019, that number over the NBN was 258 gigabytes.