Bandwidth use increased 47% in 1Q20 thanks to coronavirus: OpenVault
The average broadband subscriber consumed a weighted monthly average of 402.5 GB of data by the end of this past March, thanks to coronavirus stay-at-home initiatives, says OpenVault in its Q1 2020 OpenVault Broadband Insights report. That figure was 47% greater than the year-ago quarter and nearly as much growth as OpenVault had projected for all of 2020. Meanwhile, usage in April showed signs of surpassing that total.
The company offers data analytics and tracking capabilities to broadband operators in software-as-a-service (SaaS) format. It uses subscriber usage data from more than 150 service providers across four continents to compile the report. OpenVault’s platform enables broadband service providers to track usage trends based on both flat-rate billing (FRB, or unlimited data usage) and usage-based billing (UBB, where subscribers are billed based on their bandwidth usage).
The quarter saw its sharpest growth among “power users” of 1 TB or more and “extreme power users” of 2 TB or more. The percentage of power users reached 10.0% in the quarter, up 138% over the 4.2% of power users in 1Q19. Extreme power users grew to 1.2% of all subscribers, up 215% from 1Q19’s 0.38%.
Early this year, OpenVault had projected that power users and extreme power users would represent 12% and 1.4%, respectively, of all subscribers by the end of 2020. It also had projected that average consumption would reach 425 GB per month, just above the 402.5 GB seen at the end of this year’s opening quarter. However, OpenVault says that April usage was trending toward exceeding 460 GB.
These usage increases have led subscribers to seek higher-speed services. The number of gigabit broadband subscribers rose 97% versus 1Q19 to 3.75% during the quarter. This figure represented a 34% from the 2.8% seen at the end of 2019.
“Nearly all the growth in broadband usage we would have expected for 2020 has now been achieved in the first quarter, with much of it concentrated in the last two weeks of the quarter,” the report states. “The COVID-19 pandemic changed broadband usage patterns in substantial ways, perhaps permanently. Broadband operators will need to understand the implications of this shifting broadband usage behavior and plan their network performance capabilities accordingly.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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