Millions of people will celebrate Christmas over Zoom again this year

(Image credit: Shutterstock / AdriaVidal)

With or without Omicron, a significant portion of Brits were already planning celebrate the holidays over video conference, new inquiry suggests.

Surveying two,023 UK adults for the report, networking firm Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) institute that 11% expect to use live-streaming apps to connect with their friends and family during Christmas and the New Yr, as compared with 12% final year.

While keeping in touch with friends and family unit over digital platforms is a necessary evil for more than than a third (37%), almost the same proportion (34%) say the technology helped them feel included when they were unable to participate in-person final fourth dimension round. A further 28% said it helped them feel continued, which is particularly important during the holiday season.

A digital Christmas

As a result of the pandemic, the utilize of live-streaming and video conferencing services is on the rise, with Facebook Messenger, FaceTime and Zoom all attracting more than users than before.

All the same, connectivity issues are hampering their experience, the written report suggests, with a quarter of people encountering fuzzy or depression-quality pictures, or video freezes.

Part of the problem, GWS hints, lies with the telecoms sector. Of all the users that have suitable devices (east.g. a decent mobile device, webcam and headset), a third (33%) exercise non take adequate speeds to scout or broadcast an HD live-stream finer. According to the report, a mobile device would demand at least 5 Mbps download speeds and 4.five Mbps upload.

The written report singles out O2 every bit attracting the fewest complaints from customers in this context. Roughly half of O2 customers (51%) did not study any issues when alive-streaming, and 02 customers also had fewer problems with audio and pic quality.

For those suffering from connectivity bug, 5G could gyre out just in time to save the day. More than than a quarter (28%) of Brits are excited about the launch of 5G, with a fifth (22%) seeing information technology equally of import for keeping in impact with their loved ones.