Over 70 Percent of North American Traffic is Now Streaming Video and Audio

WATERLOO, ON — Real-time entertainment (streaming video and audio) traffic now accounts for over 70 percent of North American downstream traffic in the peak evening hours on fixed access networks, up from less than 35 percent five years ago. This is according to the latest Global Internet Phenomena Report from Sandvine, a provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators. The report focuses on Africa, the Middle East and North America and is based on data from a selection of Sandvine’s 250-plus communications service provider (CSP) customers.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Netflix (37.1 percent), YouTube (17.9 percent), and Amazon Video (3.1 percent), the top three sources of video traffic on fixed access networks in North America, all saw an increase in traffic share over the levels observed earlier in the year


• With the growth of video, BitTorrent share continues to see a decline in fixed access bandwidth share, and now accounts for only 5 percent of total traffic in North America. Last year during the same period it accounted for over 7 percent


• On mobile networks in the Middle East, Instagram is responsible for over 10 percent of total traffic. Combining Instagram with traffic from WhatsApp and Facebook, reveals that Facebook controls almost 25 percent of mobile traffic in the region


• WhatsApp, driven by the recent addition of voice calling, now accounts for more than 10 percent of downstream mobile traffic in Africa


• The release of Windows 10 in July did not break the Internet as some predicted. Microsoft’s decision to deploy the update in waves, during off-peak hours resulted in the release having minimal impact on networks around the globe

“Streaming video has grown at such a rapid pace in North America that the leading service in 2015, Netflix, now has a greater share of traffic than all of streaming audio and video did five years ago,” said Dave Caputo, CEO, Sandvine. “With Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, and Hulu increasing their share since our last report, it further underscores both the growing role these streaming services play in the lives of subscribers, and the need for service providers to have solutions to help deliver a quality experience when using them.”