OpenVault: Fiber Use Increasingly Outpaces Cable, Gap Continues to Widen
Fiber upstream use tops 100 GB for the first time, crossing a major broadband threshold.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2026 – In the battle between fiber and cable, fiber is showing robust growth.
Consumers using fiber internet are uploading far more data than people on cable internet (DOCSIS), and that gap is only growing, according to preliminary first quarter data shared by OpenVault.
Last week, OpenVault’s CEO and Co-founder Mark Trudeau announced that fiber broadband crossed a major threshold in uploads at 106.7 GB per month, which is the first time fiber users averaged more than 100 GB uploaded. Compared to DOCSIS networks which averaged 56.9 GB, fiber users uploaded almost twice as much data.
The adoption of fiber is only growing, with consumers showing it can better handle modern internet habits, including voice calls, cloud backups, and working from home. With average fiber upload speeds of 556 Mbps and average DOCSIS upload speeds of 43 Mbps, consumers are increasingly relying on the stronger upload capabilities that fiber enables.
OpenVault’s data also showed that fiber users consume more internet overall — in both uploads and downloads — averaging 943.4 GB per month, compared with 720.5 GB for DOCSIS users.
The gap between fiber and DOCSIS is only getting bigger. In Q4 of 2025, fiber uploads were 66 percent higher than DOCSIS, but in Q1 of 2026, that rose to 87.4 percent.
OpenVault plans to share additional details about the Q1 report after it is released in May. The company has been a market-leading source analyzing worldwide broadband consumption patterns and network growth.
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