Data use on the rise no matter the circumstance

We’re doing more online at home than ever before including streaming TV and music, working from home – video conferencing and downloading large files, and even gaming online.

This means we’re also consuming more data. In fact, in the four years between 2016 and 2020, our household internet data use tripled, and it will continue to climb.

Recently we conducted an experiment at the Chorus fibre lab where we looked at household data use at ‘screen time’ i.e. when the whole household is home – streaming TV, doing homework, gaming and scrolling through social media. 

You’ll see in the video how data use peaks, which will slow down your connection if you’re not on a plan with plenty of capacity.

  What many people may not realise is that even if your time online hasn’t increased, your data consumption is still increasing as devices and applications become more sophisticated.

Take Facebook for example.

If you were using Facebook in 2011, it was just a webpage with text and some low-resolution photos. You would have to browse over 1000 webpages to consume 1 gigabyte of data. Fast-forward 10 years, the same Facebook page is now full of autoplay video. You are still browsing the same site, but it is easy to use over 1 gigabyte in under an hour.

It’s hard to imagine just how much more we’ll be doing online in five years and how intricate technology will be. By asking for reliable and consistently fast internet with faster fibre (we recommend plans over 1000 Mbps) - you’ll be well and truly set up for ‘screen time,’ whether that’s at 9pm on a Monday or midday on a rainy Saturday.