In accordance with new knowledge from TeleGeography’s Transport Networks Analysis Service, international bandwidth demand continues to climb.
However, as has been the story for the final a number of years, this progress is coming at a slower and slower fee. This is what this says about long-haul networks in 2025.
Worldwide Bandwidth Demand Traits
Bandwidth demand progress appeared unstoppable for a very long time. As lately as 2020, year-on-year demand elevated 45%. Quick-forward to 2024, and that tempo is right down to 29%.
Worldwide Worldwide Bandwidth Development
Regardless of the slowdown within the annual progress fee, our 2024 knowledge represents a gentle 32% compound annual progress fee (CAGR). To not point out a tripling demand between 2020 and 2024, surpassing 6.4 Pbps. That is nonetheless so much.
On a regional stage, most elements of the world have seen very comparable progress at about 32-35% CAGR since 2020.
Because the chart under exhibits, Africa outpaces different areas with greater than 40% CAGR demand progress, and the mature U.S. market falls barely under the typical with about 29% progress in bandwidth demand.
Used Worldwide Bandwidth Development by Area
Supply: © 2025 TeleGeographyThe Evolving Function of Content material Suppliers
Content material and cloud suppliers—particularly a handful of corporations like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon—overwhelmingly account for many of the world’s worldwide bandwidth utilization.
As lately as 2016, web spine suppliers accounted for almost all of demand. Not anymore. In 2024, content material and cloud networks accounted for nearly three-quarters of all bandwidth demand.
Whereas content material suppliers’ share of whole demand varies by route, it is changing into dominant nearly all over the place. On the huge trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, and intra-Asian routes, these networks account for a minimum of 80% of bandwidth demand.
Share of Used Bandwidth by Class for Main Routes
Notes: Knowledge exhibits used bandwidth as of year-end 2024. Supply: © 2025 TeleGeographyJust a few smaller routes, similar to Europe-East Asia and Europe-Sub-Saharan Africa, are nonetheless pushed by web spine demand, however the dynamic is shifting even in these areas.
That is illustrated under. This chart exhibits us that content material supplier demand progress is outpacing different community sources on the entire route groupings we observe.
Contemplate Latin America, the place content material demand progress is nearly double that of different sources. Throughout the subsequent 12 months, content material suppliers will account for the outright majority of demand on U.S.-Latin American routes.
Content material Suppliers vs. Others Bandwidth Development by Area
Supply: © 2024 TeleGeography
As may be anticipated, content material supplier demand progress is quickest in areas the place carriers are nonetheless dominant, like Africa, Latin America, and the Center East. However there is no a part of the globe the place content material demand progress is not outpacing that of web spine suppliers.
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