NCTA is compiling data on how cable providers are experiencing broadband demand – nationally and by state – since the coronavirus threat…

Over 72 million homes and businesses across America subscribe to broadband delivered by cable providers. With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, these connections are more important than ever, as our nation adapts to the realities of “social distancing” and many of our daily activities have moved online…

To better explain how changing consumer demand is affecting network usage and performance, NCTA members are joining together to report key metrics during the pandemic (reported below) that will better inform the public regarding usage trends and network performance. Companies currently reporting include: Charter, Comcast, Cox, GCI and Midco, and others will be added in the coming weeks.

Here are their main takeaways…

• Both upstream and downstream peak usage is up, but networks continue to perform well
• Provider backbone networks have significant capacity and show no signs of congestion
• Upstream peak hours in many regions have shifted from late evening towards afternoon
• Downstream peak hours are still primarily during the evening

I was interested in two things. First check out the increase in upload use:

We’ve always said that download supports consumers and upload supports producers. It looks like production increased is happening at a faster percentage. And the peak time for upload has shifted from late evening (perhaps when people used to come home from work) to mid-afternoon (now that more of us are working from home). And as you’ll see below Minnesota’s upload growth outpaces national.

It would be great to see percentage of download traffic to upload traffic. And assuming they maintain this tool, it will be great to see how the numbers change over time. Also, it would be nice to see this for all providers and down to county level data.