Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1224129
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MARCH 2020 NEWS COVID-19 teleworkers put the strain on broadband MATTHEW VELLA GO has reported a substantial increase in traffic across all networks – mobile, fixed te- lephony, broadband and TV – as Malta went into self-iso- lation and quarantine in the midst of the COVID-19 out- break. Even international telecon- ferencing platforms such as Zoom and Teams have all experienced problems as the world went to work by staying home, due to the increased global demand for these facil- ities with which the providers themselves were unable to cope. "Last weekend GO record- ed an all-time record high in internet traffic," the compa- ny told MaltaToday as more employees were told to work from home and make use of teleconferencing, services which require dependable broadband technology. GO said that data traffic on the mobile network was also at an all-time record high last weekend, reaching more than twice the highest level of traf- fic registered in 2019. It has already increased network ca- pacity where traffic trends in the past weeks have indicated areas of potential congestion in the future. Indeed significant spikes in traffic were witnessed when people tune in to the daily press conferences streamed online dealing with the COV- ID-19 medical bulletins. "During the past week alone, voice traffic increased by 50% when compared to 'business as usual' traffic levels. We have also observed record us- age of video-on-demand and our TV app, as more people are enjoying the rich con- tent we have available," the spokesperson said. GO took the step to open up its app to the public, non-GO customers included, as well as giving cutsomers free viewing of their GO Stars, premium channels, and video-on-de- mand. GO has also received nu- merous bandwidth upgrade requests from larger organi- sations, as well as an increase for virtual PABX service re- quests. The company has invested over €240 million in its net- work over the past 10 years to make it resilient enough to cope for such demand. "Situa- tions such as this one turn out to be an opportunity to test and experience the real re- siliency of the networks," the company said, saying it has increased network capacity at Mater Dei and Boffa hospitals. "GO engineers are constantly monitoring the network to ensure its correct operation. Likewise, Melita – another quad-play telecommunica- tions firm – says that while the use of home internet had increased in recent days, this usage had so far remained well within the capabilities of its network, which continues to operate normally. "This continuity of service has been possible, thanks also to signif- icant investments by Melita in both its mobile and fixed net- works over recent years." Customers may even note some congestion if several people working from home in the same household and simultaneously accessing the internet through WiFi, as dis- tinct from a direct internet connection. Melita provides a series of WiFi tips on its web- site. "Customers who need fur- ther support and advice on this, or any other matter, are welcome to contact our cus- tomer care, which continues to be available 24/7, and on- line chat and Facebook mes- senger… although arrange- ments have also been put in place for call centre staff to work remotely in order to be able to continue providing support by phone," Melita said. for the government to help busi- nesses during this difficult mo- ment, it is hardly right that the same companies which up until a few days ago could boast of massive gains, suddenly expect the people to bear the brunt of a harsher economic climate simply because their massive profits will be experiencing a dip. "It is not fair that their profits remain private, while their loss- es become shared by the public," Moviment Graffitti said. What about the working class? Even Prime Minister Rob- ert Abela has made it clear that those who would be hardest hit by a spread of the epidemic were workers in the lower economic brackets. While the business community would also be negatively impact- ed, he urged it to be considerate of families living on blue-collar wages. The government, he said, would step in where it could, but it could not shoulder all the bur- den either. Once again Graffitti has come up with a set of concrete and measured proposals like tempo- rary unemployment benefits for workers on contracts, which do not guarantee fixed hours of work, and self-employed persons who live from hand to mouth. This demand was partly granted through the introduction of €800 monthly benefit, but workers on zero-hour contracts may still end up with their hours drastically reduced without receiving any compensatory income. The crisis of neoliberalism So far there has been no hint of any long-term change in the economic model which Abe- la promises to restore after the crisis is over, ignoring the expo- sure of the Maltese economy to the vagaries of an international economy which is so exposed to both financial, biological and eventually to the greatest threat of all: global warming. Not accounting for disasters in economic planning would be a fundamental mistake. While the post-2013 Labour government should be credited for cushioning the impact of the crisis, with a surplus accumu- lated in past years, a prolonged crisis may see all this eaten away while other weaknesses are ex- posed. For there are two major short- falls resulting from Muscat's partly neoliberal model, which have been made glaringly clear by the current crisis. The most obvi- ous is the loss of valuable hospi- tal infrastructure at St Lukes and Gozo hospital which may come handy if the situation escalates as has happened in Spain, where the government has now nation- alised private hospitals. The other shortfall is the growth of a large reserve army of labour – mainly composed of for- eign workers but also of Maltese workers working on zero-hour contracts – which is exploited in times of plenty but dumped when things get rougher. Economy Minister Silvio Schembri's declaration (for which he later apologised) that foreign workers axed from the labour force will be deported, jarred with his own govern- ment's past platitudes for the contribution of these workers, credited for rejuvenating the la- bour force, strengthening the pension system and creating a multiplier effect. Yet even the measures an- nounced by the government on Wednesday are discriminatory against third-country nationals who are not eligible for the un- employment benefit applicable to Maltese and EU workers, and who are expected to apply for work with local companies who may require their services in a scenario where this is extremely unlikely. The question is: how will these be expected to survive if they do not find a job? With other disasters that may have even more far-reaching consequences looming on the horizon, the government may well start its transition to a more sustainable 'Green New Deal', based on a new social contract where government ultimately in- sures against risk while business accepts greater obligations to workers and the community. But it may well be tempted to go in the opposite direction, to kick- start the economy again after the virus recedes. The risk would be a repetition of the mistakes made after 2013, which saw increased deregulation in the planning sector, ultimately resulting in a series of dramatic housing dis- asters over the past year, one of which ended in tragedy. What's worse, such an attitude would simply leave us with no- where left to run when disaster inevitably strikes once again.