Broadband again: the new usage levels and potential for new limits

I swear I’m not trolling for these.

Comcast has released data about the traffic last year on the internet in response to the pandemic.   Peak internet levels rose 32%, and in some markets rising 50%.    Video streaming accounted for 71% of downstream traffic, growing 70% over 2019.     The first four months of the pandemic were about two years worth of expected network traffic growth. 

Several US Senators are calling for an increase in that FCC minimum standard of the 25/3 from 2015.   This bipartisan group is calling to make that 100/100.  

Meanwhile, we have some data on internet shutdowns in 2020.  India led the way with 109 shutdowns, and 29 countries intentionally shutdown or slowed internet communications.   

In context.. T-Mobile has announced a home office internet service which they are focused on delivering in the business space, and specifically enterprise.   The router is designed to be sent home by the enterprise to deploy directly into employee’s homes.. 

I keep referring to the pandemic as an accelerant, because… it is.    

Broadband availability and perception has changed really fast.   We had two years of network growth in four months, dependence on connectivity increased.
Link that to the ecommerce growth I’ve been talking about, and we have a pretty substantial shift.   There’s an “update your thinking” argument here for sure.  

Source: Venture Beat

Source: The Verge

Source: Al Jazeera

Source: Geek Wire