Sandvine, a provider of network intelligence solutions, has released a special Covid-19 Global Internet Phenomena Report. This report analyses how traffic on consumer broadband networks has undergone a massive change as consumers are primarily using their fixed-line home networks for their internet access.

This edition of the Phenomena Report provides a unique view of internet traffic. The worldwide stay-at-home order has concentrated the vast majority of internet traffic on a single network, enabling authoritative answers to the question of what applications are truly driving consumer satisfaction and where network operators should focus their efforts for quality of experience (QoE) investments.

Commenting on the report, Lyn Cantor, President and CEO at Sandvine, said: “The Covid-19 worldwide pandemic has drastically affected network usage around the world, with many operators experiencing 100 per cent growth in traffic volume as usage shifts from enterprise and education networks to primarily consumer broadband networks. Sandvine’s goal is to ensure that network operators can continue to deliver high-quality Internet services that consumers depend on during these times, and this report is our contribution to the network industry during these times of change.”

Some highlights from this edition of the report include:

• Traffic grew almost 40 per cent globally from 1 February to 19 April
• YouTube is the undisputed king of Internet traffic, with over 15 per cent of all traffic on consumer broadband networks
• Netflix is over 11 per cent of the total volume of traffic, in second place behind YouTube
• Video, Gaming, and Social Sharing categories comprise over 80 per cent of all internet traffic, highlighting their importance to consumers as lifelines for entertainment during the shutdown
• All four of the major paid OTT video streaming services are in the Top 10 in the Americas: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+, marking the first time that has happened in a Phenomena Report

Categories: Articles, Broadband, OTT, Research, VOD