As the popularity of Netflix' streaming video and TV show service grows, so does its share of the total amount of traffic on the Internet. At least that's what a new study on Internet traffic indicates. According to a study from Sandvine, the amount of net traffic devoted to streaming video from the Netflix service totals 29.7 percent of all the traffic here in North America.
Furthermore, "real time entertainment" which includes Netflix streaming, is now the source of 49.2 percent of all net traffic in North America. That's up from just 29.5 percent in 2009. File sharing/P2P services is now a distant second category with just 18.8 percent of net traffic in the US devoted to it. Basic web browsing "only" takes up 16.6 percent of net traffic here in the US at the moment. Real time Entertainment is also the largest part of net traffic in Latin America. According to the report it takes up 27.5 percent of peak net traffic. Over in Europe, real time entertainment takes up 33.2 percent of next traffic but file sharing is still a big source at the moment, taking up 30.1 percent of net traffic.
Sandvine bases its report "on voluntary and completely anonymous data, aggregated from fixed and mobile service provider networks spanning Europe, Latin America and North America." With Netflix taking up more and more of the Internet's traffic, you have to wonder if ISPs will use this study as a way to justify putting in more broadband caps for consumers.
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