High-speed fibre broadband use jumped 38% this year, driving growth in broadband data usage of more than 7%, according to Eir's 2024 Year in Data report.
Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) traffic increased 38.4% year-on-year to 2,971 Petabytes (PB), with households using 5,494 GB of broadband data on average, rising to 6,888GB among households with fibre broadband.
Total broadband usage this year came to 5,202PB, an increase of 7.3% versus 4,847 PB in 2023.
Saturday 2 November was the busiest day of the year for broadband data usage (21.8PB) due in part to gaming downloads. One Petabyte is equivalent to 1,000 terabytes.
The slowest data usage for fixed broadband was on Friday 10 May 2024 at 11.6 PB. On average, Sunday was the highest data usage day of the week across 2024.
The total broadband usage across Eir’s network (5,202 PB) is the equivalent of 260 billion hours gaming, 15.3bn hours video chat, 2.6bn hours film streaming or 800bn songs streamed.
In terms of mobile network data, 14 July (the day of the Euro 2024 final) was the busiest day, while 29 June (Dublin Pride). 13 July the day of the (Down-Armagh GAA match) were the busiest days for roaming customers in Ireland.
July and August recorded the highest overall data usage, while May and January saw peaks in voice call activity.The busiest day for outbound roaming was the August Bank Holiday, with many people out of the country.
The Euro 2024 final and the Late Late Toy Show made 14 July and 6 December the most watched days for Eir TV, and sport accounted for eight out of the top 10 most viewed listings.
“In 2024, Irish people have fully embraced technology, both in their home and at major events like Taylor Swift’s Era’s tour. Our 2024 Year in Data report highlights a clear shift towards more connected, data-driven lifestyles, with a remarkable 38% rise in Fibre to the Home traffic," said Fergal McCann, chief technology officer at Eir.
"This growth reflects the increasing demand for faster, more reliable internet as households, businesses, and communities rely on high-speed connectivity for everything from smart devices in their home to gaming."
Photo: Oliver Loomes, CEO of Eir. (Pic: File)
