James R | On 16, May 2014

Netflix is responsible for more than one-third of North America’s Internet traffic, according to one new report.

The subscription VOD service has already been confirmed as the biggest driver of bandwidth in the US, but a new report from Sandvine, a seller of network equipment, reveals that the platform has grown its share from 31.6 per cent in the second half of 2013 to 34.2 per cent of downstream usage during the primetime period of 7pm to 11pm. That’s a lot of traffic.

To put into perspective just how much traffic that is, compare it to other streaming sites: YouYube, one of the most popular sites in the world, made up 13.2 per cent of downstream usage, while Amazon Instant Video accounts for just 1.9 per cent – despite having increased its share of activity.

Perhaps more surprising is how just how much Netflix its users watched. A dedicated band of members make up the top 15 per cent of bandwidth users. Together, these hardcode streamers consume an average of 212 GB per month – 100 hours of video. And you thought you binge-watched a lot.

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