Telstra network experienced a 50 per cent increase in traffic last week

The network experienced a 50 per cent increase in traffic across its mobile, landline and broadband networks last week.

"In some cases we had the amount of traffic that we would expect to get in a week occur in several hours," Telstra Northern NSW area general manager Mike Marom said.

Government agencies, such as myGov, received between 20 to 30 times the volume of traffic they normally would.

As a result, about three per cent of calls across the network experienced difficulty connecting.

"We have been working around the clock on network optimisation to make sure we are getting in front of it. Where we have had some pockets of issues we have ironed them out," Mr Marom said

"This week we don't anticipate we will have anywhere near the challenges we had last week."

In addition, Telstra has also negotiated a 40 per cent increase in broadband capacity with the NBN Co.

NBN chief executive officer Stephen Rue said the business was monitoring and augmenting the broadband network as quickly as possible to meet demand surges.

"The NBN is part of Australia's critical infrastructure and the role of the network has never been more important than now and what we see unfolding over the weeks ahead," he said.

"In terms of the expected requests for additional capacity, we will work with the industry to find the best solution. Clearly we all need to play our part."

Meanwhile, debate about the adequacy of the network's capacity to serve Australia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic continues

Telecommunications consultant Paul Budde predicted that the difference in network performance experienced by those with fibre to the home and those with fibre to the node and other types of connections would become more apparent as demand on the network increased.

"This will be a clear vindication of the original decision to build a nationwide fibre to the home network," Mr Budde said.

"Those that have been struggling on the fibre to the node networks might see things getting worse if there is a significant increase in traffic in their area."

"It will also be interesting to see what the experience of people in regional areas will be. These networks both fixed and wireless are often the most vulnerable in the country, so the question will be if they will stand up under this increased pressure. I fear the most for the networks in these areas.

In an opinion piece former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who outlined the original vision for the National Broadband Network in 2007, has argued that network should be 'fixed' as post-COVID-19 economic stimulus project.

"Instead of ending up with the first-class broadband network we launched, planned, funded - and by 2013 had partially built - we have ended up with a third-world system unbefitting the needs of the economy and society of the future. It's time to use the upcoming period of economic recovery to rebuild this most fundamental piece of national economic infrastructure," he wrote.

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