Research from OpenVault has revealed that broadband usage patterns are providing signs of an imminent further rise in cord-cutting.
The analytics and technology solutions provider’s Q2 2019 OVBI report tracked how thousands of subscribers who shifted to broadband-only packages during the first half of 2019 exhibited steadily increasing broadband consumption in the months preceding the change.
The analysis showed that the difference in usage between cord cutters and average subscribers rose from 14% six months before the event to 20% in the month immediately prior and 30% in the month that the cord was cut. In the following three months, the difference rose to nearly 70%.
Using aggregate consumption of millions of subscribers, the OVBI report also revealed what OpenVault said was a ‘significant’ difference between internet-only households and those who have a bundled package of pay-TV and broadband services. Among Internet-only households, average bandwidth consumption in 2Q19 was 390.42 GBytes, while bundled subscribers consumed, on average, 210.89 GB of data in 2Q19 – a difference of 85%.
The data also showed that average broadband usage in European markets increased by more than 28% from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019, slightly ahead of the 25% YOY growth in the United States. Average downstream usage in Europe continued its annual growth trend of 30% in 2019, which upstream usage grew 14%. The share of European subscribers consuming more than 250 GB was 22.13% as of June 2019, up nearly 47% from June 2018.
Usage-based billing (UBB) was being deployed to limit those consuming over a terabyte of data per month, defined as ‘power users’. When compared with subscribers on flat rate billing (FRB) plans, UBB subscribers were 23% less likely to exceed 1 TByte of usage and 61% less likely to exceed 2 TBytes. A higher percentage of FRB subscribers were found to be provisioned for lower-speed packages compared to UBB subscribers and among FRB subscribers, 41% were provisioned for speeds of 30 Mbps or less, compared with 13% among UBB subscribers.
“While usage-based billing often is considered as a revenue enhancing tool, the reality is that it spurs subscribers to find harmony between their broadband speeds and their usage patterns,” said Josh Barstow, executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development for OpenVault commenting on the Q2 2019 OVBI report. “As more and more subscribers exhibit cord-cutting behaviour, visibility into usage behaviour and sound based billing plansbased billing plans will help operators to manage increasingly busy networks and ensure subscriber satisfaction.”
The analysis showed that the difference in usage between cord cutters and average subscribers rose from 14% six months before the event to 20% in the month immediately prior and 30% in the month that the cord was cut. In the following three months, the difference rose to nearly 70%.
Using aggregate consumption of millions of subscribers, the OVBI report also revealed what OpenVault said was a ‘significant’ difference between internet-only households and those who have a bundled package of pay-TV and broadband services. Among Internet-only households, average bandwidth consumption in 2Q19 was 390.42 GBytes, while bundled subscribers consumed, on average, 210.89 GB of data in 2Q19 – a difference of 85%.
The data also showed that average broadband usage in European markets increased by more than 28% from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019, slightly ahead of the 25% YOY growth in the United States. Average downstream usage in Europe continued its annual growth trend of 30% in 2019, which upstream usage grew 14%. The share of European subscribers consuming more than 250 GB was 22.13% as of June 2019, up nearly 47% from June 2018.
Usage-based billing (UBB) was being deployed to limit those consuming over a terabyte of data per month, defined as ‘power users’. When compared with subscribers on flat rate billing (FRB) plans, UBB subscribers were 23% less likely to exceed 1 TByte of usage and 61% less likely to exceed 2 TBytes. A higher percentage of FRB subscribers were found to be provisioned for lower-speed packages compared to UBB subscribers and among FRB subscribers, 41% were provisioned for speeds of 30 Mbps or less, compared with 13% among UBB subscribers.
“While usage-based billing often is considered as a revenue enhancing tool, the reality is that it spurs subscribers to find harmony between their broadband speeds and their usage patterns,” said Josh Barstow, executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development for OpenVault commenting on the Q2 2019 OVBI report. “As more and more subscribers exhibit cord-cutting behaviour, visibility into usage behaviour and sound based billing plansbased billing plans will help operators to manage increasingly busy networks and ensure subscriber satisfaction.”
