Sandvine's 2022 'Global Internet Phenomenon Report' Reveals Explosion in Heavy App Usage and App Complexity with Video Everywhere

See how the world's most popular apps, mashups, the QUIC protocol, Apple Private Relay, and other Internet trends are affecting networks and business models

Sandvine's newly released 2022 "Global Internet Phenomena Report" aggregates data from more than 160 Tier 1 and Tier 2 fixed and mobile networks worldwide to reveal unprecedented trends, such as:

• Rapid growth of 1 Terabyte per month "heavy app users," a trend that is expected to accelerate with the transition from 4G to 5G and the explosion of video everywhere across social, gaming, messaging, and immersive experiences;
• First-time "tipping of the scales," with Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Netflix generating almost 57% of Internet traffic – more than everyone else, combined;
• QUIC multiplexed transport, encryption, and privacy protocols like Apple iCloud Private Relay obscuring network visibility for capacity planning and congestion management;
• Mashups of videos, payments, maps, chat, and other features increasing the need for more sophisticated machine learning techniques to measure and deliver optimal app quality of experience (QoE);
• Global rankings of "Top-10 Apps" in Video, Gaming, Social, Messaging, Enterprise Conferencing, with Google's YouTube retaining the top spot in global app traffic share at 14.67% followed by Netflix at 9.39%, as well as other downstream/upstream and regional trends (Americas, EMEA, and APAC).

 "Our latest 'Global Internet Phenomena Report' shows that people care more about how their favorite apps perform than the underlying networks. This makes it crucial that 5G and Cloud service providers understand, at a granular level, the application quality of experience they are delivering to customers. That's going to have the greatest impact on their brands and their ability to generate revenue streams within new business models."

Gabriel Brown, Principal Analyst, Mobile Networks and 5G, Heavy Reading said: "The top content producers serving more traffic and accounting for a greater share of network load has a big impact, but at least it is a known quantity. The other part of the story is the increasing diversity of traffic sources – from new streamers, live sports, gaming, and device updates – and the growth of complex apps that combine multiple traffic types and services in a single customer experience. In combination with the rise of QUIC and iCloud Private Relay, this is challenging operators to better understand where and when traffic originates. Insight into these emerging patterns can help operators manage network capacity and meet customer expectations."

Source: Sandvine media announcement