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CenterFuse Broadband Feasibility Report <br /> 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 <br /> 25 30 37 44 54 65 <br /> This is somewhat arbitrary because it assumes that the broadband needs in 2015 were exactly 25 Mbps. <br /> For example, if the actual broadband need for the average household in 2015 was 22 Mbps, then the <br /> predicted speed for 2020 would be 57 Mbps. What is not arbitrary is that the need for bandwidth and <br /> speed increases over time. <br /> If we accept the premise that 25 Mbps was the right definition of broadband in 2015,then it's reasonable <br /> to believe that the definition of download broadband today ought to be at least 60 Mbps. That would <br /> infer that there is a broadband availability gap today for any household that can't buy 60 Mbps <br /> broadband. <br /> Broadband is not only measured by speed and there are firms that track the volume of data that <br /> households and businesses use. The firm OpenVault measures total usage by households using software <br /> deployed by the biggest ISPs around the country and around the world. Consider the following statistics <br /> that show the average nationwide broadband usage by homes. These numbers include combined <br /> download and upload usage. <br /> 1st Quarter 2018 215 Gigabytes <br /> 1st Quarter 2019 274 Gigabytes <br /> 4th Quarter 2019 344 Gigabytes <br /> Pt Quarter 2020 403 Gigabytes <br /> 2nd quarter 2020 380 Gigabytes <br /> 3rd quarter 2020 384 Gigabytes <br /> This data shows several things. First, it shows extraordinary growth in the average use of broadband <br /> across the county. From the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019 the average use of household <br /> broadband grew by 27%. Usage skyrocketed due to the pandemic. From the first quarter of 2019 to the <br /> first quarter of 2019 during the pandemic the average use of household broadband grew by 47%. <br /> For the first time, OpenVault reported household usage by type. The average home in September 2020 <br /> downloaded 359 gigabytes of data and uploaded 25 gigabytes of data. That last statistic helps to explain <br /> the upload crisis since the average uploads from homes had to be a lot smaller before the pandemic. <br /> One of the most startling numbers to come from OpenVault is what they call power users—homes that <br /> are using more than 1 terabyte of data per month. Consider the following statistics showing the <br /> percentage of homes that use a terabyte of data per month: <br /> 4th Quarter 2018 4.0% <br /> 4th Quarter 2019 7.3% <br /> 1st Quarter 2020 10.0% <br /> 2nd Quarter 2020 8.7% <br /> 3rd Quarter 2020 8.8% <br /> Page 51 <br />