Broadband ISP PlusNet has revealed that data traffic from the recently launched Netflix UK service (details), which streams unlimited movies and TV episodes straight from the internet to your computer, is increasing day on day and now accounts for more than 60Mbps of their overall bandwidth during peak times.

Apparently the actual number of people using the service was highest on launch day and has since suffered a "slight reduction", yet total traffic from Netflix has continued to grow (it currently consumes more than 50GB of total daily traffic). The ISP suggests that "a lot of people" must "clearly like what they’re seeing", although at present the usage still only accounts for a tiny blip on PlusNet's radar but it's growing.. and fast.


The ISP is quick to warn that such services can eat a lot of data and thus benefit from faster connectivity. Research from Sandvine found that "the average US Netflix user" streams around 30 shows per month (roughly 21 hours of streaming). This level of usage apparently equates to a data consumption of between 6.3GB (on ‘good’ quality) and 48.3GB (on ‘best’ quality) of your bandwidth every single month.

By comparison Netflix UK streams, according to their website, come with three different quality settings. The lowest option ('good') requires a "minimum speed" of 500Kbps (0.5Mbps) and consumes up to 0.3GB/hour of data. By contrast the High Definition (HD) stream ('best') eats up to 2.3GB/hour and will need a stable speed of about 5Mbps.


PlusNet notes that LOVEFiLM recommends you stream movies using a broadband connection that is capable of 2Mbps or more, although sadly LOVEFiLM does not offer HD content (yet). At least superfast broadband has one more useful application.

UPDATE 20th January 2012

PlusNet has asked us to remove their usage chart as they apparently posted it in error. Crucially the data itself was correct but this matter relates to the firm that published the chart and not its content. We hope to have a replacement in the not too distant future.

UPDATE 20th January 2012 - 1:22pm

We've managed to uncover some more data (here), at least until somebody asks us to pull it :) .

UPDATE 20th January 2012 - 4:17pm

The graph has been re-added, albeit minus a certain name. Nothing of any importance has changed, it's still the same as before.