Christmas internet demand will likely break records in 2023, providers have said, as a combination of presents and television fixtures promises to keep Britons glued to their screens.
BT, the UK’s largest internet provider, has warned that Britons will guzzle more data per second than ever as they receive data-demanding gifts on December 25.
New games, tech and streaming services will test the nation’s capacity, with networks to be tested into Boxing Day by scheduled events and television, including Premier League games.
Providers have estimated that usage will far exceed last year when Britons used 23 terabits of data.
And it could even exceed a record established by the Premier League and Call of Duty earlier this month.
BT found that, on Boxing Day 2022, total traffic usage reached 141 petabytes, approximately 141 million gigabytes.
The firm expects data usage could peak at 31 terabits every second in 2023 thanks to downloads and streaming.
Amazon Prime Video will carry every Premier League match airing on the day, with video game updates and gadgets piling additional pressure on British networks.
Speaking to Sky News, BT managing director Chris Bramley said major gaming downloads and football event streaming cause the “biggest peaks” of internet activity.
While ONS figures have found that more Britons have access to full-fibre broadband than ever – approximately 57 percent of households in 2023 – people are facing an increasingly significant number of outages.
Price comparison site Uswitch published a report in September that found the number of Britons who have experienced connection failures for at least three hours has almost doubled compared to 2022.
Roughly 41 percent of all UK adults, two-fifths, reported disconnections this year.
The proportion equals roughly 22 million people, a nearly two-fold increase from the 12 million who reported the same in 2022.
A quarter of Britons said they were left without internet for at least six-and-a-half months over the last 12 months.
Experts have condemned providers for failing to support their customers, with only 22 percent saying they receive compensation for the disruption.
