Study: Heaviest Broadband Users Will Keep Growing as Share of All Subscribers

WASHINGTON, Aug 23, 2024 – Broadband ISPs can expect two trends to continue: Their heaviest users will grow in number and the growth rate in upstream usage will greatly exceed downstream consumption rates.

Those two trends were identified in a report Wednesday by OpenVault that charted broadband usage patterns derived from data points coming from millions of individual broadband subscribers during the second quarter ended June 30.

The OpenVault report said broadband "power users" – defined as consumers using at least 1 terabyte (TB) of data a month – now represent 18.2 percent of all broadband subscribers and will account for more than 20 percent by the end of 2024.

Upstream usage among power users in the second quarter grew 34 percent year-over-year, double their growth in downstream consumption. For the entire broadband subscriber base, year-over-year upstream growth was 15.9%. By contrast, total downstream usage growth was 9.3%.

"The rapid expansion of power users (subscribers consuming 1 TB or more per month) and the ongoing surge in upstream traffic are placing significant pressure on broadband network capacity and Quality of Experience (QoE)," OpenVault said.

Upstream activity typically consists of user-generated content, from videos and photos uploaded to social media platforms to cloud-based applications and services, live streams of sporting or other events, podcasts, or video conferencing.

"Operators must plan to handle the growing amount of upstream data and tackle the challenges it poses to keeping subscribers satisfied," OpenVault said.

Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., OpenVault under founder Mark Trudeau has been a broadband technology solutions and analytics provider for more than 10 years.

Other trends highlighted by OpenVault included:

Usage: The monthly average data consumed by subscribers in 2Q24 was 585.8 GB, up 9.7% from 2Q23's average of 533.8 GB;

Power users: The category of "Super Power Users" consuming 2 TB or more per month increased by 31% since 2Q23;

Extreme Power Users: Extreme Power Users consuming 5 TB or more per month increased by 77% since 2Q23; and

Speed Tiers: The percentage of subscribers with speeds lower than 400 Mbps decreased over 33% between 2Q23 and 2Q24, down to only 41%.

OpenVault's data also determined that speed and usage were no longer correlated as they were in the past "when faster speeds were harbingers of higher data consumption." The report did not explain what broke the link between speed and consumption.

"Given the new disconnect between speeds and consumption, operators are increasing their focus on network health," OpenVault said. "Recognizing that faster speeds alone may not improve the QoE needle, they are now taking steps to ensure subscribers receive the speed and reliability for which they are paying."