Configuring the User and the Fibre: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Broadband Internet in Greece

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which commenced in March 2020, precipitated abrupt global adjustments in daily routines, as work, education, and social interactions migrated to digital platforms. This transition imposed unparalleled strain on telecommunication infrastructures, generating concerns regarding a potential ‘tele-crisis’, exponentially increasing the internet traffic, and applying pressure to the existing internet infrastructure. This study examines the impact of the pandemic-driven increase in broadband demand on telecommunications in Greece, concentrating on two primary research questions: whether the pandemic jeopardised telecommunications stability and how regulatory authorities reacted to this pressure. We identify two governance strategies in relation to the de-escalation of the network conjunction: technical interventions, including data throttling and speed modifications by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and the formulation of guidelines for ‘pandemic-responsible’ internet usage. We offered insights regarding the governance of the telecrisis that transpired during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first strategy was expressed mainly in technical terms, as it engaged with the materialities of the infrastructure, thereby ‘configuring the fiber’, while the other applied conventional rules and patterns to shape the pandemic-user, portraying the user as a responsible individual who comprehends the ‘appropriate’ use of the internet during crises, thus ‘configuring the user’.