Ten years from now, how would we remember the coronavirus crisis that impacted Australia and the rest of the world?
Apart from the tragic loss of lives and livelihoods, what’s likely to be seared into our collective memory would be the seismic shifts in business and society, as Australia and other countries around the world entered an unprecedented state of lockdown.
For me, the past three months have stood out for being truly extraordinary, in the over 20 years I have worked in the telecommunications industry. Most of all, this centred on how our industry had to respond to fast-moving developments, where being ‘online and connected’ meant so much to so many people, in ways we never envisaged.
A McKinsey study found that COVID-19 resulted in five years of digital transformation around the world being compressed into just eight weeks. That may not be much of a surprise to many, whose daily commute to work means walking to the kitchen table, instead of driving to the office. Or whose children took lessons not in classrooms, but on laptops at home. And to those who take part in social gatherings via video calls, instead of meeting up at a restaurant or bar.
During these difficult times, much of the technology we use to live, work, learn and play is enabled by the connectivity and data provided by telecommunications companies such as Telstra. You may think of us as an Aussie company, connecting people and businesses from Sydney to Perth – and everything in between. But Telstra has been operating internationally for more than 70 years, with our global network now spanning more than 200 countries and territories. I am proud to work for a company that plays such a big role in connecting Australia with the rest of the world.
How we connect Australia to the world
These days, most of us experience the Internet or connectivity wirelessly. We use Wi-Fi or data plans on our phones. That’s why it’s natural to think we are transmitting data back and forth in the cloud through the air – via satellites perhaps.Yet, today just one per cent of international data is transmitted that way. The rest of the data – whether that’s for TV shows, web browsing, calls, or emails – traverse the world on fibre optic cables under the sea. And these networks are fast. In fact, data can travel from New York to Sydney in less than the time it takes to blink.
Telstra owns and operates over 400,000 kilometres of network around the world. Many of our cables are located in Asia, where they carry up to a third of the region’s Internet traffic. We also have many cables traversing the Pacific Ocean connecting the United States to Asia and Australia.
How COVID-19 has affected global networks
Like the rest of us, that network has been tested significantly by COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the amount of data delivered across Telstra’s international network has spiked by as much as 50 per cent. In particular, we’ve seen a surge in uploads as people rely more on video calls, video streaming and online gaming, as well as cloud applications used by large enterprise customers.
We know that because here in the United States where I’m based, we’re working in close partnership with the world’s largest technology, media and content providers, to ensure their services are available whenever they’re needed.
And it’s not just that we’re using more data, we’re also using data for longer. We used to see Internet peak hours between 6pm and 10pm every day. These days, we’re seeing peaks begin in mid-morning and not ease off until people go to bed.
Keeping Australia connected to the world
Networks getting busier doesn’t sound like a big problem. But if a network is overloaded, it can slow significantly – and things like stock markets or critical systems can be affected.
That’s why we invest heavily in monitoring and managing those systems, and making them as resilient as possible. For example, we build room into our network to cope with unexpected peaks in demand, and install cables along different paths – so if there ever is a problem, data can take a secondary route to the destination.
A tried and tested network
Our people are great at keeping countries connected because problems do happen.
The seas our cables sit in are rough (and the cables actually do rest on the ocean floor), the ports they land in are busy, and the region we live in is prone to natural disasters. Cables can be damaged by underwater landslides caused by typhoons, by ship anchors, even by deep sea fishing nets that get snagged on them.
Our Network Operations Centres (NOCs) in Australia and Asia work around the clock to monitor and protect our networks, including commissioning ships to repair cable faults out at sea. With few ports open and most country borders closed during the pandemic, our NOCs have been busy arranging for ships to be restocked at sea, and expediting clearance with authorities for crews who need to be quarantined before and after their journey.
Looking to the future
As we begin to look to the future, one thing is clear – many changes wrought by the pandemic will be permanent.
Take how we work, for example. In March, Gartner estimated more than 90% of businesses had enforced working from home for staff in response to the coronavirus lockdown. While that level of remote working won’t endure, it’s likely more organisations and employees will understand not only that it’s possible, but that it can be productive for many too.
At Telstra, we have offices in more than 20 countries and as we look to support our people in returning to the office, we do so with a primary focus of keeping them safe and well.
And, like many companies, it has forced us to re-evaluate some of the conventional ways we have worked in the past – and how we will work in the future.
As we learn to adapt to live in changed circumstances – whether that’s more mobile working, attending virtual university lectures or simply streaming more online content – I firmly believe that demand for data, connectivity and digital services won’t revert to the levels before.
Like many other telecommunications companies, we have plans to ensure the network can meet the demands placed on it. Telstra has more than doubled the capacity of its international network in the last four years, and will continue to grow this in step with demand. After all, Australia’s connection to the rest of the world is now more important than ever – and Telstra will continue to enhance this country’s connectivity, as it has been doing for over a century.
Meet the author
Nick Collins (Class of 1994)
Nicholas (Nick) Collins is President for the Americas at Telstra. Based in San Francisco, he is responsible for Telstra’s business across the region. Nick’s career at Telstra spans over two decades in various senior leadership roles across four continents. Nick holds a Bachelor degree in Business from Griffith University.
