Record levels of data consumption in 2024, according to VMO2 data

VMO2 mixes broadband, mobile, movement and TV data with national polling findings and bakes it together to serve up some snapshots of behavioural insights behind network data in the UK.

Broadband data usage was up 8.1% in 2024 – a new record apparently. Online gaming was the main contributor for this growth – four of the five busiest days aligned with Call of Duty launches. Traffic peaked in the first week of December when six Premier League games were streamed on Amazon Prime.

Netflix took 32% of all streaming traffic as the most viewed on-demand app, while YouTube is now the fastest growing app on Virgin Media TV in terms of audience size and total hours viewed.

“It was another record-breaking year across our mobile and fixed networks, as our customers continue to use more data than ever before,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2. “To meet this growing demand, we are continuing to invest and innovate to provide vital connectivity that underpins how our customers work, rest and play. This connectivity is clearly playing such a central role in people’s lives and our investment ensures Brits have the experience that they expect whenever and wherever they are.”

O2 Motion uses anonymised and aggregated data from O2’s mobile network, and the operator has extrapolated from that that commuting increased in 2024, with 48% heading to the office five days a week. The most popular day of the week to commute was Wednesday apparently, when 74% shlep in.

We’re told this has been driven by growing in-office mandates from companies, which makes sense, with 36% of office workers required to be in the office daily. 46% found the office more productive than working from home, and 42% better for connecting with colleagues.

Based on broadband data, VMO2 asserts Brits are getting earlier nights as well – 20 minutes earlier than in recent years to be specific, with network traffic consistently starting to drop off from 9:20pm.

They’re also apparently getting up earlier – in 2024 morning traffic began to rapidly rise from 6:20am, which is fifteen minutes earlier than in 2020. Some of that is presumably down to the covid lockdowns of 2020, when people weren’t going to the office or anywhere else.

Earlier this year, a deal was struck for VMO2 to feed some O2 Motion data to the Office for National Statistics for its Integrated Data Service (IDS). The cloud-based platform is supposed to serve up government bodies access to a data repository, in order that they can ‘make data-driven policy decisions’ on things like public health, regional growth, climate change, jobs and skills.