Sandvine, provider of intelligent broadband network solutions, has released a global Internet traffic trends report based on millions of subscribers from around the world.

Report findings include real proof of the inevitable shift in consumer behaviour as online entertainment-based applications such as gaming, video streaming, social networking and VoIP communications dominate peak evening hours between 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. These real-time, interactive applications increase up to 50 percent per subscriber during the peak evening hours.

"Our research implies that families are spending more of their leisure time during evening hours on Internet-based entertainment and communication such as YouTube, Xbox Live and Skype," said Dave Caputo, Sandvine co-founder, president and CEO. "Not only does this signal a dramatic shift in consumer behaviour but emphasises the rapid evolution and real strain placed on the Internet."

According to the research, peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic remains dominant in the upstream direction totalling 61 percent of network traffic and is also responsible for more than 22 percent of downstream bandwidth consumption worldwide. The study indicates that the amount of P2P traffic per subscriber maintains a relatively high steady state during times when networks are facing their highest volumes of traffic.

"Bulk bandwidth applications like P2P are on all day, everyday and are unaffected by changes to network utilisation," said Caputo. "This reinforces the importance of protecting real-time applications that are sensitive to jitter and latency during times of peak usage. Effective network traffic optimisation techniques use sophisticated policies that balance network capacity, application requirements and subscriber quality of experience in real-time."

Categories: OTT, OTT, Research Library, VOD