People in the UK used more data than ever before, according to end-of-year analysis by communications giant Virgin Media O2 (VMO2).
VMO2’s 2024 ‘Year in Review’ study combined anonymised broadband, mobile and TV data along with national polls to provide insights on our behaviour this year.
The research showed an 8.1% rise in broadband usage and a 9% rise in mobile data usage, both of which represented new record highs in consumption.
The report suggested that online gaming was the main driver behind broadband data use, with four of the busiest five days of the year coinciding with Call of Duty launches.
However, the single busiest day in terms of broadband traffic came in the first week of December, as football fans watched one or more of the six Premier League games streamed on Amazon Prime.
The Euro 2024 tournament was also a huge draw, with 90% of Virgin Media households tuning in.
The football also boosted mobile data use, with O2’s busiest hours occurring when England played Denmark and the Netherlands in the competition.
Report drew conclusions on TV habits, commuting and even bedtimes
Data showed that the most watched shows outside of sport were Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Netflix smash Baby Reindeer, both dramas based on or inspired by real events.
BBC iPlayer was the most popular app among Virgin Media TV customers, while Netflix accounted for a third (32%) of all streaming traffic.
The report also drew some conclusions on consumer behaviour based on their data usage.
O2 Motion used anonymised and aggregated data from the mobile network to show that commuting increased this year.
Nearly half (48%) of people headed to a workplace five days a week, rising to nearly three quarters (74%) on Wednesdays.
More people were being called back to the office, but many saw benefits in returning to the workplace.
46% of survey respondents said that they were more productive at the office, 42% said that it was better for connecting with colleagues, and just over a third (37%) said that they experienced a boost to their physical wellbeing.
Data usage also suggested that Brits were going to bed earlier, with network traffic consistently beginning to drop off from 9:20pm, compared to 9:40pm in 2020.
We were also getting up earlier, with morning traffic picking up from 6:20am, quarter of an hour earlier than in 2020.
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