• Australian Broadband Data Demand report highlights on the main nbn wholesale service:
  • Weekly download throughput peak of 13.7 Terabits per second (Tbps) recorded on Tuesday, 30 June during the Evening Busy Hours
  • Weekly upload throughput peak of 0.94 Tbps recorded on Tuesday, 30 June during the Evening Busy Hours

Data demand on the nbn’s main wholesale access service remains above the pre-COVID-19 baseline as Australians continue to rely on the nbn™ to access work, education and social events.

For the week from Monday, 29 June to Sunday, 5 June, peak download throughput (the measure of data flowing through the nbn™ network) during the busy evening period increased by 24 per cent to 13.7 Terabits per second (Tbps) on the main nbn wholesale service, compared to the last week of February (which nbn measures as its normal pre-COVID-19 baseline).

Peak download throughput during the week beginning Monday, 29 June also increased during daytime business hours, up 21 per cent to 9.4Tbps, and early evening hours up 30 per cent to 12.8Tbps, compared to the pre-COVID-19 baseline.

Following several months of streaming at lower bitrates, major streaming video services have started returning to their pre-COVID-19 streaming bitrates, which may have contributed to an increase in data demand during the week.

The figures have been released as part of Australian Broadband Data Demand, a weekly report into the peak throughput recorded in a week during daytime business hours, early evening hours and busy evening hours.

Downstream network usage

Peak upload throughput on the main nbn™ wholesale service in the evening busy hours for the week beginning 29 June increased by 22 per cent to 0.94Tbps, compared to the pre-COVID-19 baseline. In the early evening hours, peak upload throughput increased 28 per cent to 0.87Tbps; and peak throughput during daytime business hours increased by 58 per cent to 0.79Tbps, compared to the pre-COVID-19 baseline.

Upstream network usage

Compared to the pre-COVID-19 baseline before social distancing measures were implemented, downstream network usage on the nbn™ main wholesale service during business hours on 3 July 2020 was 53 per cent higher (as shown in the graph below at 11am) than pre-COVID-19.

Downstream network usage over 24 hours

Upstream network usage on the nbn main wholesale service during business hours on 3 July 2020 was 69 per cent higher (as shown in the graph below at 11am) than the pre-COVID-19 baseline.

Upstream network usage over 24 hours

The Australian Broadband Data Demand report is updated weekly on nbn’s Transparency dashboard at: www.nbn.com.au/updates

For tips on how to make the most of your nbn connection and to learn more on what NBN Co is doing to support Australia through COVID-19, please visit: www.nbnco.com.au/campaigns/covid-19

Notes to editor:

- These metrics represent the upstream/downstream throughput peak each week, across the following three distinct periods:

o    Business hours - Monday to Friday 8am to 4:59pm

o    Early evening hours - Monday to Sunday 5pm to 7:59pm

o    Evening busy hours - Monday to Sunday 8pm to 11:59pm

- For Business Hours, the peak is determined by taking the highest downstream throughput for our TC-4 service from the busiest 15-minute increment for downstream throughput, and from the busiest 30-minute increment for upstream, between Monday to Friday. The Early Evening Hours and Busy Evening Hours figures are recorded using the same methodology, but over a seven day period.

- TC-4 is nbn’s standard wholesale broadband service that is designed primarily for general internet and standard data services across all access technologies.

- NBN Co considers the throughput peak metric for our TC-4 service as the most appropriate measure for growth in data flowing through the network as it shows when network use is at its highest in each defined period in a week for our wholesale access service most used for residential broadband services.

- This graph shows TC-4 usage (measured in terabits per second for both upstream and downstream) over a 24 hour period (using Australian Eastern Standard/Daylight time on the dates shown in the key). It compares the results from those two dates against a corresponding 24 hour period from nbn’s pre-COVID-19 baseline on 28 February 2020 (the last week of February). Each marker on the x axis represents an hour period in the day. The y axis shows, for each of the 60 minute periods in that 24 hour period:

o    The downstream throughput measure calculated by recording the highest downstream throughput for our TC-4 service from the busiest 15 minute increment in that 60 minute period.

o    The upstream throughput measure calculated by recording the highest upstream throughput for our TC-4 service from the busiest 30 minute increment in that 60 minute period.

- The terabits per second (Tbps) value is rounded to one decimal place. The percentage increase is rounded to the nearest whole number.