The mobile data consumption reached 853 TB per day during the local-level election. As digital mediums became the mainstream for promotions, receiving information, and updates, it resulted in high bandwidth consumption around and beyond the election day on Baisakh 30.
During the local polls political parties, supporters, public all used the internet for sharing updates, watching election-related activities, and sharing updates which caused an exponential amount of data use among the public. Many text and voice message services were also launched offering bulk voice messages broadcasting for election.
According to telecom operator Nepal Telecom (Ntc), the mobile data consumption reached 853 TB per day during the local-level polls. That is, Nepalese consumed over 8.73 lakh GB of data per day.
“The mobile data consumption was at its highest on the third day after the election which is on Jeth 1st,” Ntc spokesman Shobhan Adhikari shared. This is when the counting of votes reached a very tense stage all around the country, especially in metropolitan cities.
“Data consumption was highest on Jestha. It is an increase by 13 percent from Baisakh 27,” he added.
The data use showed a soaring trend leading up to the election and after it. From three days before to the third day after the election, data use had skyrocketed. Also read: Nepal’s Internet Bandwidth Touches 1 Tbps Mark
However, Adhikari says the data usage has climbed down to normal afterwards.
High data usage at the election but voice ‘normal’
While mobile data usage spiked around the election, voice service stood normal like any telecom service. Telecom companies also started CRBT to spread to promote wide participation in the local polls.
Check out: Latest Ntc Data Packs; Price, Volume and Offer
Clickmandu writes that Ncell also saw an increase in the use of voice, data, and SMS service at the election. Both Ntc and had announced various packages as election offers. This included bonus data on recharge, plus all net calls and SMS.
Internet consumption hits record on certain occasions. During Euro football in 2020, Nepal’s internet bandwidth consumption had reached a record milestone.
As social media becomes more prominent, internet traffic will likely reach new highs for a gripping event such election. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the upcoming Football World Cup and the General Election.
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What do you make up of the high use of mobile data during local-level elections?
