U.K. to Let Telecom Network Engineers’ Kids Stay in School

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is planning to exempt the children of telecom engineers from the nation’s school closures to ensure broadband networks keep functioning in the face of record demand.

Phone network engineers are expected to be placed on a list of ‘key workers’ by ministers as soon as tomorrow, meaning their children will still be able to attend school so the parents can continue working, according to people familiar with the matter.

Britain’s broadband networks will be tested in coming weeks as millions of workers relocate home to slow the outbreak of Covid-19. Carriers are facing a surge in demand, but the biggest network operator, BT Group Plc, has said it is prepared and doesn’t expect any failures. Its chief executive officer, Philip Jansen, has tested positive for the virus and is working remotely.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to upgrade the country’s broadband networks to gigabit-per-second speeds by 2025. Industry executives say the plan is likely to need tens of thousands more workers to dig up roads and lay the fiber-optic connections.

Netflix Inc., one of the biggest contributors to internet traffic, committed on Thursday to cutting its streaming bit rates in Europe by 25% for a month to ease network congestion amid mass home working on the continent.

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