Internet Data Spikes in U.S. Households

The internet has become an even more vital tool for the millions of professionals across the U.S. still working from home due to COVID-19 office restrictions. On top of that, the continued restrictions imposed on businesses in the country are keeping many people home, translating to an increased usage of streaming, gaming and other internet intensive activities. New data shows just how far America’s household internet usage has skyrocketed during 2020.

According to data collected by the Wall Street Journal from OpenVault, the average monthly internet usage for a U.S. household soared to a high of over 400 gigabytes by the end of March. That’s over 100 gigabytes more than the average during 2019, which itself was notably higher than the previous year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. customers may be experiencing more frequent caps on their monthly data usage due to the increase in monthly traffic. The average monthly internet usage dropped by roughly 20 gigabytes between March and June, signaling a potential new strategy for telecommunications companies for limiting people’s data consumption. By limiting data, companies like Comcast and AT&T are able to both offset costs of people transitioning from traditional cable and satellite services as well as manage increased network congestion. Still, companies state that 95 percent of customers fail to reach their monthly data limit.