Verizon CEO Says Web Traffic Jumped 20% in a Week Due to Coronavirus Shutdown

According to Verizon Communication’s CEO Hans Vestberg, data usage is surging during the coronavirus shutdown.
Verizon has reported early results of society’s virtual shutdown affect on business and Vestberg told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that data usage has surged double digits over four categories.

“In less than a week, we have transformed this company dramatically,” he said in an interview on “Mad Money.”

In a week-over-week comparison, streaming demand increased 12%, Vestberg revealed. Web traffic saw a jump of 20%, virtual private network, or VPN, jumped 30% and gaming soared 75%. Social media usage remained constant.

It was earlier this month that Verizon said it would increase its capital guidance range to $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion from $17 billion to $18 billion this year.

“We’re always built for being prepared for different types of changes in the network and that’s why we’re coping so good so far in the network,” Vestberg said.

Verizon said 100,000 employees are now working from home.

“You see that, as this country is changing quite dramatically how we operate, our network is changing, so we are constantly following those paths,” he said.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and have not been compensated for this article.