The three conclusions from the latest bandwidth report from OpenVault Broadband Insights are good news for service providers. The report, entitled “Unlocking the Full Power of Upstream,” found that broad-based usage growth is driving expansion; upstream upgrades drive “significantly higher” levels of usage and operators must be mindful of growth of absolute traffic volumes.

Overall expansion: The report found that compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, total usage grew by 9.9% overall, 9.1% in the downstream and 21.7% in the upstream. Median usage grew 15.3%.

Upstream upgrades: The study looked at the upstream dynamic of a sample system that offers 677 Mbps service and a DOCSIS-based system offering an average upstream speed of 17.3 Mbps. The OVBI report found that consumers used 66% more bandwidth on the fiber network (93 GB compared to 56 GB).

Real versus percentage gains: The report cautioned operators to be aware that usage over time means that actual growth increases represented by a given percentage are larger in terms of actual demand as the base figure grows. Between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of last year, user growth rates were essentially the same (9.4%, 9.3%, 8.9% and 9.9%). However, the actual demand rose from 51 GB to 69 GB over the same period of time.

There clearly is demand. The report found that, during the fourth quarter of last year, the average home used 767.4 GB of bandwidth, divided between downstream (711.5 GB) and upstream (55.9 GB). The average downstream speed was 578.9 Mbps and the upstream was 41.2 Mbps.

The key takeaway is that service providers are dealing with growth.

“No matter what paths are taken, operators would be well-advised to plan for a world in which incremental growth delivers materially larger upstream and downstream volumes of traffic year after year,” the bandwidth report concludes.

“Even when growth is stable, it should not be viewed as a plateau, but as an indicator of sustained and intensifying network demand. Aligning capital planning, node segmentation strategies, and upstream investment with this reality will be critical to maintaining service quality and customer satisfaction.”