Random: Gamers Are Straining Italy's Internet Due To Coronavirus Isolation

We've seen a lot of different events and major gatherings cancelled due to COVID-19 (the coronavirus) over the last couple of weeks, and in Italy, the country's nationwide school shutdown has led to a major spike in internet traffic from bored kids. In particular, online gaming is proving to be one of the biggest culprits.

As reported by Bloomberg (and shared by our friends at Nintendo Life), the country's Telecom Italia SpA network has seen a massive surge over the past two weeks, with online games such as Fortnite and Call of Duty highlighted as a major cause. Telecom Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi commented on the situation:

“We reported an increase of more than 70% of Internet traffic over our landline network, with a big contribution from online gaming such as Fortnite"

Ultimately, with so many kids off school, it's no wonder internet traffic has surged. Let's just hope the Xbox Live servers (which recently suffered some downtime) are ready for this increased demand, as it looks like they're going to be placed under considerable strain over the next few weeks.