Telstra predicts we’ll be spending a lot of time on our phones this New Years Eve

As we prepare to say goodbye to 2017 tonight, Telstra techs will be hard at work ensuring their network is up for the challenge, and what a challenge it’s expected to be with more than 1500 TB of data expected to be downloaded.

Executive Director, Network and Infrastructure Engineering, Channa Seneviratne, said Telstra is predicting a record amount of data on its mobile network this New Year’s Eve.

The amount of data we predict to be downloaded on New Year’s Eve is the equivalent of one person continuously watching 57 years of High Definition content. Throughout the year we have seen data usage continue to grow on our mobile network through the increasing demand for news and entertainment, the use of social video applications and more access to high-speed 4G and 4GX technology.

The increase in mobile usage extends from data to more traditional forms of contact including calls and SMS, Telstra predicts we will make 47 million calls from mobiles, an increase of 15% on NYE 2016 and send 91 million text messages tonight/tomorrow, with 4.1 million text messages expected to be sent on the Telstra network between midnight and 1am.

It’s this 12am-1am time-frame that will likely be the biggest hour for Telstra in terms of traffic. It is of course because we’re all trying to contact family or friends. Mr Seneviratne said

At special times of the year, like New Year’s Eve, we can share our celebrations with family and friends no matter where they are, which helps make these events even more memorable.

So, whether you’re consuming HD content on the Telstra network or calling/messaging your friends or family Telstra is getting set for a big 2018 New Year.