Virgin Media Ireland‘s total home broadband usage during March 2021 hit 200,000,000GB. March 2021’s total usage is over twice that of March 2020. The broadband provider cited working and studying from home as well as the uptick in video streaming as reasons for the huge figure. Gaming is the other major factor mentioned in the press release with Call of Duty‘s Warzone Season 2 Reloaded‘s ridiculous 50GB update being singled out.
It’s no surprise that broadband usage has skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic. Events like two console launches and the Christmas media binge would drive data usage on their own but the added homebirding during the COVID-19 emergency has only compounded such a rise. The study shows that individual users (as opposed to a household) is using an average of around 18GB per day, up from 7GB per day in the same period last year.
Because War… War Always Needs an Update
Paul Higgins, Vice President of Commercial at Virgin Media said: “Our customers reliance on a superfast yet reliable broadband connection is more important than ever with it playing a vital role in people’s ability to work, rest and play whilst staying connected at home. March was one of our busiest months on record with over 200 million Gigabytes used on our network alone.”
The rollout of Virgin’s 1Gb broadband across Ireland only helped gamers and non-gamers alike to reach that record figure.
Higgins added: “With online gaming and digital game stores becoming more and more popular with our customers as a way to stay connected with friends and download the latest titles and updates, it’s no surprise to see such a massive spike in our broadband usage off the back of the latest Call of Duty Warzone update on March 31st just gone. Seen as one of the most popular online gaming titles right now, any time a major update lands, our users are quick to download it. With our superfast home broadband and award-winning in-home Wi-Fi*, we offer them great quality connectivity and reliability, ensuring these important gaming updates are downloaded quicker than ever and they’re ready to jump back into the action with their friends.”
