More Devices, Netflix Mean More Traffic for Comcast

Comcast’s broadband subscribers now consume a median of between 4 and 6 GB of data each month, up from 2-4 GB, thanks to the proliferation of devices using Wi-Fi in the home and streaming video services such as Netflix and Hulu.

Charlie Douglas, a Comcast spokesman, had affirmed in early December that the nation’s largest ISP still had the same median data consumption among subscribers as it had reported back in 2008, but in a conversation today, he said the number had changed. Douglas attributed the increase to more people using Wi-Fi on devices such as iPads and smartphones in the home. This makes sense, given that most people switch over to Wi-Fi in to avoid hitting caps on their mobile data plans, as well as getting faster speeds. However, there’s likely another factor at play that Comcast may be less eager to publicize: The adoption of video streaming services such as Hulu or Netflix also are changing the demand profile among Comcast’s 16.7 million broadband subscribers. The last big spike in demand among the user base was the widespread adoption of iTunes for downloading music.