A small-but-historic shift in growth rates is signaling an acceleration of broadband consumption, according to the latest edition of the OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report.

Data collected by OpenVault’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) network management and monitoring solutions showed that average per-subscriber usage for the second quarter of 2025 was 664.2 GB – an increase of 1 GB recorded in Q1 2025 and a significant indicator given historical seasonal declines from the first quarter to the second in a given year.

Equally telling, the year-over-year growth rate in Q2 2025 was higher than any seen in the second quarter in the past three years. The increase in average usage over Q2 2024’s 585.8 GB was 13.4 oer cent, the largest since a 14 per cent rate of growth in 2021. The increase was fueled by vigorous downstream traffic – up 13 per cent year-over-year in Q2 to 615.3 GB – as well as by a rise in upstream usage of 17.9 per cent. The upstream growth was the fastest second quarter metric on record, with the exception of the pandemic- fueled 55.8 per cent increase in 2020.

As always, the latest edition of the OVBI analyzes data from millions of broadband subscribers to uncover patterns that impact network performance, operator revenue, and customer satisfaction. The Q2 2025 edition also introduces new network health metrics that quantify how Proactive Network Management (PNM) and Profile Management Application (PMA) technologies can support broadband providers’ technology and business objectives.

Key findings in the Q2 2025 report include:

• The percentage of Super Power Users consuming 2 TB of data or more per month rose to 5 per cent in Q2 2025, up from 3.7 per cent at the end of 2024.
• Subscribers with speeds of 1Gbps or higher continued to close in on 1 TB of data in 2Q25: their 955.0 GB average was up 14.4 per cent over the 834.8 GB registered during the same period in 2024.
• Conversely, the relevance of lower speed tiers is fast eroding. Average monthly usage for those consumers on sub-50Mbps plans was only 117.4 GB, a year-over-year decline of 55 per cent
• PMA technology is improving network resource optimization and more efficient DOCSIS 3.1 utilization. The percentage of total channels reporting more than half of their modems in partial-service mode was 3.4 per cent after the implementation of PMA, vs 11.6 per cent prior to PMA deployment.

“The unprecedented increase in usage from Q1 to Q2, the resurgence of downstream consumption, and the continued growth of upstream traffic all signal that broadband is entering a new phase in expansion,” the report notes. “In this evolving environment, agility is essential—providers must leverage detailed insights and advanced tools like PMA to build resilient networks capable of supporting rising and increasingly dynamic consumer usage.”

OpenVault CEO and Founder Mark Trudeau will discuss the findings and their implications for the industry on a webinar on September 10th at 11am EST.  Registration is available here.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Consumer Behaviour, Research

Tags: broadband, openvault