VMO2: Record year of data use on broadband, mobile
Insights released by Virgin Media O2 reveal the consumer connectivity behaviors that shaped 2022 as Britons navigated a year of ‘new normal’ and saw major, historic events from the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the Lionesses’ summer football success .
As 2022 brought post-Covid freedoms, demand for data remained at record levels. Virgin Media O2 had its biggest year ever for data usage on both its broadband and mobile networks as more people went online to chat, stream, share and play. In 2022, customers downloaded 9 percent more broadband data per day than the previous year, with mobile traffic increasing by 36 percent year-on-year.
After analyzing connectivity trends for tens of millions of customers using anonymised and aggregated data from 1 January – 19 December 2022, Virgin Media O2 reveals Brits’ connectivity habits from 202:
Train problems forced homework
Train strikes kept Britons at home, with the biggest nationwide strike for more than 30 years on June 21, 23 and 25, leading to a 72 percent reduction in City of London crowd volumes compared to the previous week, according to O2 Motion -data. At the same time, broadband upload traffic peaked at 5 percent week-on-week due to the corresponding increase in video calling on platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Download traffic levels also increased by 10 percent – highlighting the country’s reliance on broadband connectivity.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the new Thursdays
Throughout the year, Tuesday and Wednesday office days grew in popularity, as Britons settled into their new hybrid working patterns. Crowd movement data from O2 Motion throughout the year shows that commuter numbers are equally high on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, beating Thursdays as the most popular days in the office.
Britons flocked to warmer climates
European travel from the UK almost reached pre-pandemic volumes over the summer, according to anonymised and aggregated O2 Motion data, with Spain continuing to top the list of most popular European destinations as average weekly roaming volumes almost tripled compared to the summer 2021. Reintroduced European roaming charges could have cost UK travelers up to £8.9m a week across some of the most popular summer destinations.
Virgin Media O2 remains the only major mobile network provider not to bring back EU roaming charges, saving the average family of four £100 or more for a two-week holiday.
Gamers have improved broadband data usage
Some lockdown habits have stuck, with online gaming continuing record broadband traffic spikes in 2022. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0‘s launch on November 16 was the busiest day on record for gaming-related broadband data usage. Close second were December 14 game releases for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Season 1 (Raids) adjacent The Witcher 3 Next Gen update, with the day just missing the top spot by 0.6 Gbps.
We root for England
Football accounted for the biggest O2 mobile data traffic rises this year, with the opening 1pm England vs Iran contest on 21 November driving record mobile data traffic rises ever recorded on O2’s network. Compared to England’s opening match against Tunisia in the 2018 competition, mobile data traffic increased by 361 per cent. The Lionesses who lifted the Euro trophy saw a 49 percent increase in domestic reach on match day July 31 compared to an average day as the nation cheered on the women to make history.
The 2022 Premier League and Champions League finals saw huge increases in mobile data, with mobile network traffic 37 percent and 30 percent higher than their respective 2021 finals. Furthermore, during the evening of October 19, when Prime Video streamed five Premier League matches and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II pre-download was released, Virgin Media’s broadband data usage rose significantly before peaking at 9.20pm when traffic was up 40 per cent compared to an average weekday evening in 2022.
Social media
TikTok usage continued to grow throughout 2022, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all mobile app usage in November, while Snapchat and Instagram accounted for only 2.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Facebook remains the most popular mobile app overall, using more than a fifth (22 per cent) of O2 customer apps in November.
The data highs and lows of the year
- Appreciation for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II – More than half of Virgin Media’s TV customers watched the Queen’s funeral, which also saw O2 mobile data traffic fall across the UK as 28 million people tuned in to watch, making it one of the country’s biggest TV events ever make.
- Celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee – Britons visited palaces and piers in their hundreds of thousands over the Jubilee Bank Holiday. O2 Motion data revealed Buckingham Palace as the most popular destination, with visitors peaking at 195,000. Newquay Beach and Blackpool Pleasure Beach saw visitors rise by 224 per cent and 284 per cent respectively, compared to the same time the previous week.
Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer, Virgin Media O2, said: “Looking back to 2022, it is clear that reliance on broadband and mobile connectivity is driving traffic and data usage to grow more and more. This year, a number of major events that gripped the country along with major game launches and continued hybrid work have all contributed to a record surge in customer traffic on our network and we see no sign of this changing. With 2023 upon us, whatever it brings, we will continue to invest heavily in keeping the country connected, keeping up with demand and ensuring we are focused on customer experience and reliability.”
