As many local companies are choosing to have staff work from home, where possible, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, more people are relying on their broadband connection.

During times where people are encouraged to stay indoors, certain industries are left reeling, while others become critical – namely those keeping society connected and nourished.

In view of schools being closed for the next week and many spending their times indoors, whoswho.mt asked GO plc CEO Nikhil Patil to share how the company, employing some 800 people, is coping with the added demand.

“When you run a company that offers services on which so many businesses, households and individuals depend, preparing for emergency situations is part of our everyday lives,’ remarked Mr Patil.

He added, however, that “the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and the possibility of a lockdown took our preparedness and response to a whole new level.”

He spoke of how the company set its plans in motion “as soon as news of the first case in Italy broke.”

GO’s local market share is considerable, registering a 45.5 per cent share of the local fixed broadband market for the first half of 2019, according to the latest figures of the Malta Communication Authority’s review.

When it comes to paid TV viewing, GO registered a 41.2 per cent market share.

Asked about the preparations put in place once the news of the Coronavirus hit, Mr Patil shared that “a response team was put together, pregnant employees were immediately asked to work from home, non-essential travel was stopped, and we asked employees returning from Italy or other red-zone areas to self-isolate.”

“We discussed every possible scenario and came up with an action plan for each and started to implement as things evolved,” he added.

Mr Patil stressed how the safety of employees came first, especially when considering how it cannot serve the community unless its workforce is protected.

“We decked out our retail outlets with Perspex screens to minimise contact with clients, provided the necessary health and safety training to customer-facing employees and ensured that every precautionary measure to contain spread was implemented,” he said.

Over 50 per cent of GO’s workforce is carrying out their duties from home.

“The response team continues to meet daily, even remotely, to ensure that we keep on monitoring the situation and adapting accordingly.”

While people work and rest from home, internet demand is invariably on the rise. Asked whether special provisions had to be put in place to keep up with this demand, Mr Patil replied:

“We have invested over €240 million over the past 10 years in our network to ensure it is resilient enough to cope for such demand.

“We have indeed noticed spikes over the past few days, but we have had no degradation in service. We see such situations as a real opportunity to see and experience the real resiliency of our networks and have sufficient bandwidth at hand to ensure that our customers can continue operating as usual.”

Pressed on whether this has been a genuine test on the company’s infrastructure, Mr Patil said “it would be naïve for [him] to say that it is not a test on [GO’s] infrastructure.”

Adding to this, he stressed how “these are not usual circumstances, but we have a huge responsibility to our customers, to employees and to the community, a responsibility we take very seriously.”

He affirmed how GO has “planned for every eventuality, so we have taken every measure to ensure minimal disruption.” Mr Patil added that this is in fact when the real investment GO has made to its infrastructure will pay off.

“I have full confidence that we can manage any demand. In such difficult times, the real test is not on the company’s infrastructure but more a test of its culture and values.”

The CEO commented that he was always proud of GO, but it’s trying times such as these where he is reminded of “how incredibly privileged [GO is] to have such an important role in Maltese society”.

The company has opened up premium channels, GO Stars and video on demand to its customers while the country is encouraged to stay indoors. It has also made its TV App available to non-GO customers too, offering thousands of hours of free entertainment.