Home Netflix Use Continues Its Ascension

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Net Neutrality conversations are terrifically important to Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). The streaming content provider has been forced to enter a number of deals with large ISPs to ensure that its content remains in the fast lane while Congress and the FCC look at the issue. For the last year, I’ve suggested that “nearly one-third” of all Internet traffic (during peak hours) is driven by Netflix; now that number is 35% according to networking company Sandvine Corporation (TSE:SVC) (OTCMKTS:SNVNF).

Netflix is king of home use

Sandvine’s twice-yearly Global Internet Phenomena Report was released this week and shows Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) use is up from 32% last year to 35% during peak evening hours in the second half of this year. While Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex) calls net neutrality “Obamacare for the Internet,” Netflix and others who read those asinine remarks would certainly disagree. YouTube accounts for 14% of U.S. home Internet traffic.

While Netflix is clearly popular in the home, the site (app) that uses the most mobile bandwidth remains Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s property YouTube at 20% of total mobile use which narrowly beat Facebook’s 19%. Facebook’s home and mobile traffic rose considerably this year given its Autoplay video feature (ad streaming) at the end of the summer.

In addition to home users streaming Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and YouTube videos religiously, they are also using the Internet considerably more in general. Use is up somewhere between 30% and 40% with the average user using 20 gigabytes each month. While Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix are responsible for the bulk of this, BitTorrent, Amazon, Hulu, and torrents are also responsible for this increase.

HBO to have an effect soon?

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“With both Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon Instant Video gaining bandwidth share in North America during 2014, it will be fascinating to see how a standalone HBO Go streaming option will impact networks when it launches in 2015,” said Sandvine Corporation (TSE:SVC) (OTCMKTS:SNVNF) president and CEO Dave Caputo in a statement that accompanied the report. “The dynamic streaming video market underscores how important it is that operators around the globe have the business intelligence and big data solutions in place to understand the ever-changing behavior of their subscribers.”

Mobile use has also increased for the average user according to the report and is up to 118 megabytes each month from 102 megabytes in the last report. The popularity of Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Instagram and Google Cloud among other similar sites are responsible for a good portion of this increase.

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