Broadband Insights Report (OVBI) 4Q22

Significant increases in consumption and speeds, spurred in part by government incentives, powered broadband toward or past major milestones at the end of 2022. The 4Q22 edition of the OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report indicates that average household consumption neared 600 GB per month, the percentage of subscribers on gigabit tiers more than doubled, and usage by participants in the Federal Communication Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) continued to outpace that of the general population. According to this 4Q22 edition, the average per-household consumption was 586.7 GB at the end of 2022, an increase of nearly 10% over the prior year. During the same period, the percentage of subscribers provisioned for gigabit speeds rose to 26%, and median usage by ACP participants was more than 34% higher than the median usage of all subscribers. In addition, the 4Q22 OVBI highlighted late-morning Christmas Day usage spikes that may carry implications for operators’ service and customer support planning. Additional key findings include:

• Usage: The monthly weighted average data consumed by subscribers in 4Q22 was 586.7 GB, up 9.4% from 536.3 in 4Q21.
• Key ARPU Insight: The gigabit subscriber tier accounted for 26% of all users in 4Q22, an increase of more than 100% over 4Q21.
• Power Users: The number of power users of 1 TB or more per month increased by 16% over the previous year.
• Key Bandwidth Usage Insight: Average total usage, which was 586.7 GB at the end of 2022, likely will exceed 600 GB in 2023.
• Speed Tiers: As migration to faster speed tiers continued, the percentage of subscribers in tiers under 200 Mbps declined by 43% in 4Q22.
• Key UBB vs FRB Insight: Nearly 35% of UBB subscribers receive gigabit speeds, up from 13% a year ago and 2.5x the percentage of FRB gigabit subscribers.

Demand for greater internet speed continues to increase, especially on UBB platforms, as evidenced by the significant migration of users to speeds above 500 Mbps. Operators need to be mindful not only of this overall growth but of growth among specific segments of subscribers and at specific times. Consumption by subscribers in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program continues to outpace that of all subscribers, and rapid growth of peak time consumption – especially during and around the holiday season – are both considerations that need to be addressed in network planning.