The data is part of the operator’s new Mobile Britain report published today.
Three UK is predicting that 5G will account for 35% of data usage by the end of 2022, saving people 23 hours of download time every month.
The Mobile Britain report says data traffic on Three’s 5G network is up by 385% since 2020, overtaking 3G for the first time. 5G now carries about double the amount of data on the 3G network.
The report was published in the same week as data traffic on Three’s network reached an all-time high of 1Tbps, apparently propelled by large audiences watching Champions’ League footballs matches.
Using Netflix’s recommended bitrate for full HD (1080) and 4K, 1Tbps is equivalent to 66,667 concurrent 4K streams or 200,000 concurrent full HD streams.
Three UK’s new report reckons that 2022 will be the year of the phone call as 39% of respondents to its survey said they prefer to call rather than text. Almost a third of respondents (30% said they make more phone calls now than in pre-pandemic days.
During the first lockdown, the volume of phone calls reached record highs and during 2020, were on average 16% longer as people stayed in touch those who matter to them.
The trend continued un 2021 when number of calls and the total number of minutes spent on calls increased. Some 13 million Brits say they feel more comfortable talking on the phone and 53% of adults attach more importance to them.
There are changes in other habits too. Almost third of people (30%) say they are more like to watch a TV or film on a Sunday than they were five years ago, with 50% saying they are streaming a boxset or film rather than watching live or a DVD.
In the past six months, Sunday streaming was responsible for two of the largest monthly peaks as well as almost a quarter of last year’s weekly peaks. This pattern looks set to continue; so far in 2022, Sundays have been the days with the highest peak usage for four out of eight weeks.
Carlo Melis, Chief Network Officer at ThreeUK,commented, “To keep up with the demand for data, we are investing more than £2 billion in transforming our network and IT infrastructure, with 5G now live in over 370 locations covering half of the UK population.”
Read the full report here.