Working from home, once a perk, has become the norm for white-collar toilers. As countries lock down due to coronavirus, workers need access to fast, reliable internet connections. Korean and Chinese professionals are well-equipped, their countries have invested heavily in fibre and 5G wireless networks. Many homes in Britain still rely on a cranky local network of copper wires.

Can these cope with surging demand from home workers? Users in Spain are already being asked to ration usage. UK telecoms giant BT Group claims Britain’s network is up to the job. It had better be. The company dragged its feet upgrading a network on which communications now depend more than ever.

Internet connectivity can be absent or notoriously slow outside Britain's big cities. Bandwidth is weak even in some suburbs. BT’s erstwhile chief executive, football fan Gavin Patterson, chose to bet billions of pounds of shareholder capital on English soccer media rights.