Internet may be rationed to cope with increased use

INTERNET access to services such as entertainment and gaming could be rationed if networks come under severe strain, experts have warned.

“If we end up in a situation where worldwide, 850million children start to receive lessons virtually for an extended period of time, then networks might want to start prioritising video traffic over gaming traffic,” said Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly, a research group.

Broadband providers such as BT have said they are confident their systems will be able to cope with the expected high levels of demand.

However, yesterday, Netflix said it would reduce the quality of streaming across Europe for 30 days to ease internet overload.

In a worst-case scenario, other online activities such as gaming, may be throttled to keep internet traffic flowing for healthcare and educational services. Such a decision could alarm advocates of net neutrality, a set of regulations in place in many countries around the world which require operators to treat internet traffic neutrally, regardless of which company it relates to.

Kester Mann, an analyst at CCS Insight, said “drastic methods” may be needed to throttle certain traffic if usage increases, but warned that any move to prioritise certain types of traffic could provoke a debate.

“If you’re talking about education over other services, that could get a little bit controversial,” he said.

Andrew Ellis, a professor of optical communications at Aston University, called for rationing and restrictions on the UK’S internet usage in 2015 in order to avoid overloading networks and power overuse.

He said yesterday: “If we carry on doubling what we do online every couple of years or so, eventually we’ll run out of energy or capacity and we’ll have to start making hard decisions.”