The various restrictions on both travel and social contact due to the outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in technology playing a pivotal role in keeping people connected over the last couple of years. Livestreaming and video calling services allowed loved ones to share cherished milestone moments — such as weddings, birthdays and graduations — that they would have otherwise not been able to experience.
According to UK regulator Ofcom, Brits’ use of these services grew exponentially during the pandemic. While it is not surprising people relied heavily on these livestreaming applications to share key life moments with each other, GWS has found that UK citizens are planning to continue using these services even with restrictions being lifted globally. It seems people have embraced and incorporated into their daily lives the technology that enables them to effortlessly connect with friends and family, even when they’re miles apart.
The future will be livestreamed
Our survey of over 2,000 UK adults showed that one in ten attended a wedding over livestream during the pandemic, 13% celebrated a birthday remotely and 12% reported they had attended a funeral via livestream. The research showed a clear generational divide, with 18 to 34-year-olds being the most likely to report attending an event remotely and over 55s the least likely.
An interesting trend that has emerged since the end of the formal pandemic restrictions is that people expect to continue certain lockdown traditions such as livestreaming important events — a testament to the impact of technological innovation during a time of crisis. For example, two in ten people expect to attend either a birthday or funeral this year virtually, and 41% say they have plans to attend a wedding remotely. While university students have been subject to massive disruptions during their education, it seems that livestreaming their graduation has become commonplace with over half (54%) of the people surveyed saying that they plan to attend a university graduation ceremony virtually this year.
With such ongoing reliance on these services, ensuring people have access to adequate wireless network capabilities is essential. While the situation is improving, we found that there is still progress to be made in terms of the UK’s digital reliability. Technical issues while watching a livestreamed event on their smartphone were reported among survey respondents, with 12% experiencing poor sound/picture quality and 16% stating they found it difficult to follow the event — eroding user experience during a critical moment for them.
It is not unreasonable to argue that live video streaming technology has been a lifesaver for people in the workplace, allowing people to continue to work effectively from home during lockdown restrictions — but this research clearly demonstrates people’s social lives are also taking on a ‘hybrid’ format too. With this trend set to continue — and with the constant uncertainty about whether restrictions will be reintroduced — it is vital the UK doubles down on improving digital connectivity across the board.
How the UK government is bringing 5G into the mainstream
The UK government has sought to place improving digital connectivity at the core of its ambitions for the future of the UK. For example, the recently launched Building Digital UK (BDUK) — a special delivery Executive Agency sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) — is responsible for ensuring every home and business in the UK has access to fast and reliable digital connectivity. In particular, Westminster is investing over $6 billion to ensure everyone has access to gigabit-capable broadband. There is also the Shared Rural Network — a collaboration between the four major network operators and the government — that aims to significantly reduce ‘total not-spots’ (hard-to-reach areas with no existing coverage) with over $1.2 billion in funding to improve 4G coverage. Through legally binding coverage commitments, it is anticipated that at the end of the programme, 4G mobile coverage will cover 95% of the UK.
Both are examples of strong commitments from the government to improve the UK’s digital connectivity; hopefully, the government will continue their active role and help cement the tremendous gains that have been made in progressing UK’s 5G rollout. There is yet much more to be done and much to gain from this next generation network technology.
The opportunity and benefits that 5G technology presents globally are revolutionary and must not be overlooked. With widespread 5G coverage come advancements in overall network improvements — better latency, capacity, efficiency, coverage, as well as reliability — leading to an explosion in innovation in services that would have frankly been inconceivable just a few years ago.
This fascinating insight into how people are planning to continue using these services demonstrates the importance of digital connectivity — meaningful benefits happen when the public and private sectors work in concert and economies invest in new technology and infrastructure. There has been solid progress so far, with our most recent drive tests in the UK showing successful connections to 5G networks between 40-56% of the time this year, compared to just 10-25% the year before. The rollout of 5G is an incredibly complex process and the progress made so far should not be disregarded, but our UK analysis highlights the need to ensure there is sufficient capital investment from major operators, as well as available resources and funding plus updated policies and regulations from government agencies.
