Average monthly broadband usage nears 600 GB

Average broadband consumption approached a new high of nearly 600 GB per month and the percentage of subscribers on gigabit speed tiers has more than doubled, according to the Q4 2022 edition of the OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report. The report was issued today by OpenVault, a market-leading source of SaaS-based revenue and network improvement solutions and data-driven insights for the broadband industry.

According to the 4Q22 edition of the quarterly report, the average per-subscriber consumption was 586.7 GB at the end of 2022, an increase of nearly 10% over the prior year. During the same period, the percentage of subscribers provisioned for gigabit speeds rose to 26%, more than 2X the 4Q21 figure of 12.2%. The report leverages data aggregated from OpenVault’s suite of broadband management tools.

“Demand for greater internet speed continues to increase,” the report notes. “Operators need to be mindful not only of this overall growth, but of growth among specific segments of subscribers and at specific times. Consumption by subscribers in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program continues to outpace that of all subscribers, and rapid growth of peak time consumption – especially during and around the holiday season – both are considerations that need to be addressed in network planning.”

OpenVault’s continued analysis of the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program shows that median usage by ACP participants in 4Q22 was 531.9 GB, more than 34% higher than the 396.6 GB recorded by all subscribers. In addition, the OVBI noted for the first time a Christmas Day trend of significantly higher average usage beginning in the mid-morning hours and continuing into the afternoon.

Other findings in the 4Q22 report include:

• The percentage of power users consuming 1 TB or more per month in Q422 was 18.7%, a year-over-year increase of 16%.and 10x the percentage observed just five years ago, in Q417.
• Annual growth of super power users consuming 2 TB or more per month increased 25%, from 2.7% to 3.4% – a nearly 30x increase within the past five years.
• As migration to faster speed tiers continued, the percentage of subscribers in tiers under 200 Mbps declined by 43% in 4Q22.

CT Bureau