Vodacom sees 40% jump in data usage as people stay at home

South Africa’s mobile phone network operator Vodacom said on Thursday that data traffic on its network has jumped 40% since a nationwide lockdown began as people work from home to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

It said that if necessary it would offload more capacity to the Rain network.

“We are expecting this trend to continue in the short to medium term as more customers work from home and people using technology to remain connected, educated and entertained,” the company said in a statement.

South Africa on March 26 imposed a five-week lockdown to the end of April to curb the spread of the virus.