FILE - In this July 20, 2010 file photo, a person uses Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. Netflix is tapping into six new markets on Monday hoping to gain hundred thousand new subscribers and balance out the billions spent on entertainment content each year. Their presence is welcome in most European countries, but in France Netflix is facing government-imposed regulatory hurdles and pressure from established local competitors. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)The Associated Press
When Canadians jump on the Internet during prime-time evening hours it's increasingly because they want to stream something on Netflix, suggests Waterloo, Ont.-based networking company Sandvine.
An analysis of downloading traffic during evenings in Canada found that 30 to 40 per cent of the data consumed was usually linked to Netflix streams, which was higher than any other Internet activity.
On a typical evening, YouTube viewing, web browsing, Facebook usage and accessing content via BitTorrent were the other top ways Canadians chewed through megabytes and gigabytes.
Prime-time Netflix streaming has grown about threefold in recent years, Sandvine reported. Three years ago, Netflix accounted for just 13.5 per cent of downloaded data during evening hours in Canada.
On mobile networks in Canada, social media drives the most downloading of data.
Over 25 per cent of the data downloaded by Canadian mobile devices typically funnels through social networking apps. Facebook gets the most usage followed by Instagram and Twitter.
YouTube accounted for about 20 per cent of downloading traffic on mobile devices.