Netflix increased its share of fixed-line Internet traffic in North
America in the first half of 2014, accounting for 34 percent of data
flowing to consumers during peak times, up from 32 percent in the latter
half of 2013.
That's according to a new report from Sandvine Inc., a Canadian networking services company.
Sandvine
also found that file-sharing - the main tool of content piracy - had
fallen to 8.3 percent of all daily network traffic, compared to 31
percent in 2008, as legitimate options flourished.
Sandvine for
the first time identified Internet users who are likely "cord cutters,"
or those likely to drop traditional pay TV. They were the top 15 percent
heaviest users of streaming audio and video.
The group accounted
for 54 percent of all Internet traffic, consuming on average 212
gigabytes of data per month. That would be roughly equivalent to
watching 100 hours of video per month, Sandvine said.
Meanwhile,
the bottom 15 percent of streamers accounted for less than 1 percent of
all traffic, averaging under 5 GB of data per month and streaming
entertainment less than 1 hour a month.
The report comes amid
public feuding between Netflix Inc. and Internet service providers about
who should pay for network improvements needed to maintain quality
video streams. Federal regulators are also proposing rules that could
permit new fast lanes on the Internet for companies that pay for the
privilege.