Data from Openreach – the UK’s wholesale broadband network – shows that data usage on its new Full Fibre network alone is up more than 35 per cent between January and June 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. And overall traffic on its national broadband network increased by five per cent in the same timeframe.

Peak usage across Openreach’s network typically occurs between 8pm and 10pm, when households are streaming, gaming and connecting multiple devices.

But it’s thought Fortnite, the popular online battle royale game, has become a consistent driver of peaks in demand, with major updates during 2025 coinciding with record-breaking spikes:

On February 21st, a large Fortnite patch pushed UK broadband traffic to 372 Petabytes1 (PB) – the busiest day of the year so far. That’s the equivalent of:
– Streaming HD Netflix for over 1.5 million years, nonstop,
– Downloading more than 90 million 4K movies, or
– Sending every person in the UK over 5,000 high-res photos in a single day

Meanwhile, patch 36.00 on June 7th saw usage hit 351PB, followed by 349PB on June 8th.

Openreach is currently building the country’s largest Full Fibre network and is fast closing in on reaching 20 million homes and businesses with the UK’s most reliable broadband technology.

Katie Milligan, Deputy Chief Executive of Openreach, said: “Our usage data shows how faster, more reliable connections are reshaping the UK’s digital habits. We’ve always been a data-hungry nation, but wider access to Full Fibre is enabling families and businesses to do more online – and do it faster, with fewer interruptions. More than 7.5 million customers are already benefiting from this upgrade – using it to work from home, access education and healthcare, and enjoy seamless entertainment and gaming. But upgrades aren’t automatic, so that still leaves over 12 million homes missing out on a future-proof connection that’s available now with freedom to choose from the widest range of providers.”

Other high-traffic days included January 5th (357PB) and January 1st (346PB), showing how digital demand continues to rise – even without major events.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Consumer Behaviour, FTTH, Games, Research

Tags: 4K, fortnite, Openreach, streaming