After facing pandemic restrictions on and off for 24 months, 2022 was the first full year of freedom in the UK. Therefore, Virgin Media analyzed how this lack of restrictions affected the way people used their broadband and mobile networks. In detail, the British telecommunications company analyzed tens of millions of customers’ connectivity habits from January 1 to December 1, 2022.
Virgin Media saw its biggest ever year for data use on both broadband and mobile networks, as more people than ever went online to chat, stream, share and game. Overall, the telecommunications company’s customers downloaded 9% more broadband data in 2022 than in 2021, with mobile traffic up 36% year on year. According to the Virgin Media’s investigation, that surge was down to a heady mix of gaming-generated traffic spikes, football fever gripping the nation, and the continued demand (or necessity) for home working.
Specifically, England beating Iran in its opening World Cup game make mobile traffic rose 36% to its highest level ever. The match saw the biggest spike in mobile data traffic ever recorded on O2’s network, up 361% from England’s World Cup opener against Tunisia in 2018. At the same time, as football fever gripped the nation, Virgin Media O2 saw a 49% rise on BBC One viewing figures.
Meanwhile, the report also revealed that 28 million people watch the Queen’s funeral in the UK alone. Showing the nation’s appreciation for Queen Elizabeth II, mobile traffic dipped during the funeral, making it one of the country's biggest television events of all time.
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