OpenVault Broadband Insights Report: Broadband Usage Jumps 47% in Q1

Key findings in the OpenVault Broadband Industry Report (OVBI) Q1 Quarterly Advisory: 

• The COVID-19 pandemic changed broadband usage patterns in substantial ways, perhaps permanently
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated anticipated broadband consumption trends by almost one year and has exponentially increased the number of >1TB/2TB “power users.”
  • Average consumption at the end of 1Q20 jumped to 402.5 GB, an increase of 47% over the 1Q19 average of 273.5 GB and a 17% rise over the 344.0 GB in 4Q19.
  • The areas of sharpest growth during 1Q20 were power users of 1 TB or more and extreme power users of 2 TB or more. The percentage of subscribers who were power users in 1Q20 reached 10.0%, an increase of 138% over the 4.2% of power users in 1Q19.
• Median usage, a leading indicator of usage growth across all subscribers, increased dramatically
• Increased usage is moving subscribers toward faster speeds
  • The percentage of subscribers provisioned for gigabit-speed service increased 97% to 3.75% in 1Q20 year-over-year from 1Q19’s 1.9% and was up 34% from the 2.8% at the end of 2019.