Internet phenomena

Seeing Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo at yesterday’s Scotia Capital event reminded me that I have not yet written about the most recent Global Internet Phenomena Report. The Fall 2011 edition is based on September 2011 Internet traffic statistics from a cross-section of Sandvine’s customer base.

This edition provides interesting analyses of different geographies and internet access technologies:

• North America, Fixed Access
• North America, Mobile Access
• Asia-Pacific, Fixed Access
• Asia-Pacific, Mobile Access
• Emerging Markets (Eastern Europe, Brazil and Africa), Fixed Access

Within North American fixed networks, Real-Time Entertainment applications are the primary drivers of network capacity requirements, accounting for 60% of peak downstream traffic, up from 50% in 2010. Furthermore, subscriber usage is becoming increasingly concentrated in a smaller band of the evening, driving up network costs despite relatively constant per-subscriber monthly data consumption.

Sandvine also reports that North American fixed access networks have entered a post-PC era, defined by the majority of Real-Time Entertainment traffic being destined for devices other than a laptop or desktop computer. Game consoles, set-top boxes, smart TVs, tablets and mobile devices being used within the home combined to receive 55% of all Real-Time Entertainment traffic.

Sandvine’s report is a must read information source for trend analysis. Be sure to register and download your copy.