author: Kep Keeper
Internet: We Use 40 Times More Data Than 10 Years Ago
We watch a YouTube video in 4K in the morning, listen to music on Spotify when returning from work, and in the evening a show on Netflix. All day long we are accompanied by the Internet, more and more Internet. Over the last decade we've been used 40 times more data bandwith than in 2010.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission), the U.S. agency dealing with the use of radio frequencies for communication purposes, states in its annual report that the use of data in households is growing at such a rapid rate that it could exceed 1 TB per month for a single household in a few years. This is because more and more household appliances are connected to the web.
More and more things are becoming smart
The Internet has become ubiquitous and there is no doubt about it. More and more devices can operate online. Moreover, some of them are unable to function normally without a network connection. The fact that a computer, TV or phone uses the Internet no longer surprises anyone, but also washing machines, refrigerators or coffee machines are becoming increasingly "smart". Not 10 years ago, we wouldn't have guessed that a household appliance would need an Internet connection. It is the growing number of such devices that makes the use of the network 40 times greater than a decade ago. Gartner, a company that specializes in the strategic use and management of technologies, forecasts that by 2022 there will be more than 500 "smart devices" in a typical household.
4K has already become an everyday reality
In addition to the number of devices connected to the web at the same time, it is also worth noting how much bandwith transfer we use. 1080p videos on YouTube do not impress anyone anymore. More and more often we encounter videos in 4K or even 8K resolution. The constantly growing number of streaming services for music and movies, as well as their users, also has a significant impact on the amount of data we use. In case of many of us Netflix has already replaced television. According to official data Netflix offers the following data usage settings:
- Low - 0.3 GB per hour
- Average - 0.7 GB per hour
- High - 3 GB per hour in HD quality
- High - 7 GB per hour in Ultra HD quality
We often don't even realize how much data we "lose" on everyday things. Even inconspicuous Internet browsing or sitting on Facebook. Our phones have many more functions than in 2010. It is hard to think that just a decade ago, 7 GB of Internet consumption per hour was an unthinkable value for a common user.
Most data is transferred while watching movies. Here are some examples:
- 4K video: about 7 GB per hour
- Full HD movie: 3-5 GB per hour
- Online music listening (e.g. Spotify): 120 MB per hour
- Web browsing: 1-4 MB per minute
- Facebook: 1-2 MB per minute
- Skype / FaceTime / Video calls: from 100 MB to 1.5 GB per hour (depending on image quality)
In the face of ever-increasing data consumption, Internet providers need to grow continuously in order to meet users' expectations. 1TB of data per month will probably force many companies to develop their current technology to simply not fall behind.