REGINA -- As more people practice physical distancing by staying at home, Access Communications has noticed a spike in both phone and internet usage in recent weeks.
According to Fran Moran, the communications manager for Access Communications, there's been about a 60 per cent increase in telephone calls province wide while the usage for internet is constantly fluctuating.
"We are recording a record number of landline calls and that's obviously due to people trying to keep in touch. It blew away our record numbers from Mother's Day even," said Moran.
The "significant" increase is most predominant during the day when people would typically be at work.
"The internet usage is all over the place, some days 35, sometimes 50 per cent more so it's hard to give a general, overall number, but we have seen significantly more during that 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window," said Moran.
The surge in usage is also believed to be due to the fact that many children are home during the weekday while schools are closed indefinitely due to COVID-19 concerns.
The province has also declared phone and internet an essential service at this time and Access is looking at creative adaptations of its current processes to meet the growing demand.
