UK ISP Glide Reports Strong Increase in Data Consumption

Business and residential ISP Glide Group, which is busy expanding their full fibre broadband network across more of the UK (leased lines and FTTP etc.), has reported a surge in network demand with its data revealing a 25% increase in network volume compared to the same period last year.

According to Glide’s modelling and historical data, a year-on-year rise of 25% is expected, “indicating that the digital behaviours adopted in 2020 are here to stay“. On the other hand, Ofcom’s Connection Nations report last year noted that the average monthly data volume per household on fixed broadband connections had increased over the year to 482 GigaBytes (up from 453GB last year or 6.4%) – down sharply from the pandemic surge.

Meanwhile Glide notes that, last week, on September 27th, the company hit a new peak of 487G, which coincides with the release of two globally renowned video games: Counter-Strike 2, and early access to EA Sports’ highly anticipated FIFA replacement, FC 24. Glide’s data analysis also points to a continued upward trajectory in broadband use, with 2024 expected to see yet another surge.

Sean Lowry, CTO of Glide, said:

“Our record on the network stands at an impressive 487G, a feat achieved last week. We continue to invest in our national network, deploying higher capacity customer tails with our fibre cities initiative and look forward to reaching 1 TBps in the coming years.”

In addition to this surge, earlier this year, on the 22nd of February 2023, Glide experienced a substantial spike in data usage which was attributed to the highly anticipated release of Season 2 of the immensely popular Call of Duty video game. The excitement didn’t stop there, as an Amazon Prime match featuring table leader Arsenal and Manchester City further contributed to this surge. But they haven’t provided any supporting data for those events.