Comcast, the largest ISP in the US, said its peak internet traffic has increased 32 percent since the start of March, but the usage remains within the overall capacity its network. The increase in people working at home has shifted the downstream peak to earlier in the evening, while upload traffic is growing during the day in most cities. The company also announced new offers of free educational TV content for its cable subscribers and two months free internet access for college students.
The traffic increase has been as much as 60 percent in some areas, the cable operator said. However, the growth is starting to plateau in cities among the first to issue stay at home orders, such as Seattle and San Francisco.
In terms of applications, VoIP and video conferencing traffic has more than tripled, and there is 40 percent more traffic from VPNs. More time streaming and gaming is driving higher evening and weekend usage. Gaming downloads are up 50 percent generally and 80 percent during new releases, and there is a 38 percent increase in streaming and web video consumption.
The company's broadcast operations are also showing higher demand. Linear video consumption increased four hours to an average 64 hours per week, and VOD is setting new records, with growth of 25 percent year-on-year. There has been a nearly 50 percent increase in Voice Remote requests for 'Free Movies'.
The picture is somewhat different at its MVNO Xfinity Mobile, with LTE data usage down 10 percent compared to the beginning of March. At the same, mobile data usage over Wi-Fi has grown 24 percent.
Comcast said its network was performing well, helped by ongoing investment to add fibre and capacity. Its 'micro-monitoring' of the network includes running over 700,000 speed tests most days to see where engineers may need to add further capacity.
Comcast also announced more free resources for students at home during the crisis. The company has made nearly 2,000 hours of programming and thousands of free titles available to Xfinity video customers to give children and parents access to educational programming by grade level. The offering was developed with the company Common Sense Media, which develops age-rated material for families.
After earlier offering two months of free internet access for low-income households, Comcast also is introducing an internet offer for university students. They can receive a Visa prepaid card worth two months of internet service with a self-install kit delivered to their home. This offer is available to college students who live in households that are not already Xfinity customers, through 01 June.
