º£½ÇÊÓƵ

TalkTalk has released new data showing that England took advantage of the relaxation of lockdown measures earlier this month to spend less time online and to get out and enjoy the reopening of shops, gyms, hairdressers, pubs and restaurants.

Coinciding with the easing of lockdown restrictions on Monday, April 12, the Salford-headquartered group saw a 13% drop in customer internet usage during the week versus the seven days before.

However, the newly privatised company added that with the pandemic accelerating a digital-first lifestyle, the recent drop in data usage is far from a return to pre-lockdown levels, with usage having increased by 40% on TalkTalk’s network last year.

The group also said that that peak bandwidth demand will "only continue to grow" as smart home devices and remote working all become commonplace in the home.

Taking all of this into account, TalkTalk added it expects peak network traffic to double by 2025.

Phil Haslam, chief networks and service officer at TalkTalk, said: "Last week we welcomed back many freedoms we hadn’t had in England for several months – the ability to see friends at the pub, go shopping, eat out, go for a haircut or a workout.

"Combined with the Easter holidays and the good weather across much of the country, our customers clearly took advantage of that.

"However with hybrid working, online gaming and streaming continuing to require large amounts of data we expect peak network traffic to double by 2025."