Streaming Boom Highlights Shifts in Australia's Internet Consumption Patterns

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Streaming video is taking up more of our screen time, working from home still commands the most uploads, and Australia is clawing up the worldwide broadband speed rankings.

Children may be leaving social media but broadband downloads are rising in Australia, and Queenslanders continue to use more data than users in any other state or territory.

NBN Co released details about Australia’s online behaviour on Friday, also revealing downloads were expected to dip at the end of 2025 but peak again in January.

The findings come after a year of change for internet connections in the nation, with thousands more households offered free speed upgrades and fibre to replace copper technology, as well as growing competition from satellite providers such as Starlink.

The implementation of recent reforms has led to an increase in the number of people turning to streaming for entertainment, according to Guy Scott, the chief technology officer at NBN Co. Currently, streaming accounts for 48 percent of all data downloaded through the National Broadband Network (NBN).

By 2035, the company predicts streaming video will account for 59 per cent of all NBN downloads.

Children were a major source of streaming demand as downloads were expected to peak during the school holidays, Scott said, even though adults streamed content consistently.

“When the kids are off school, the network tends to get busier — in April, July, September and January, they’re all busy times for us,” he said.

“One thing that remains unchanged is the peak usage hour, which consistently falls between 9 PM and 10 PM,” Scott noted.

By contrast, the NBN expected to see a dip in downloads on New Year’s Eve, he said, which is when its daily peak demand is lowest.

Research by Worldpanel ComTech shows that streaming video services are now utilized in over three-quarters of Australian households (76 percent). The popularity of services like Paramount+, Stan Sport, and those with ad-supported subscriptions is expected to grow further by 2025.

In 2025, data uploads via the NBN saw a 12 percent increase, while downloads rose by 10 percent, reaching an average of 508 gigabytes per month—double the amount recorded in 2019.

In the other direction, broadband uploads continued to be dominated by communications platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom during 2025, NBN Co reported, accounting for 24 per cent of traffic.

Uploads over the NBN grew by 12 per cent during 2025, while downloads jumped by 10 per cent to reach an average of 508 gigabytes a month — twice the data downloaded in 2019.

Queenslanders downloaded the most data on average for the third year in a row, followed by Western Australia and the ACT, while Tasmanians downloaded the least data.

Download speeds also increased across Australia during 2025, fuelled by the NBN’s free speed tier upgrades for 2.7 million users in September and free fibre upgrades for eligible premises from January.

About 12,000 households were moving to faster and more reliable fibre connections each week, Scott said.

“We absolutely expect to see traffic continuing to grow,” he said.

“We’ve built out the fibre network now to 3.5 million premises and we’ve got another 622,000 premises to build between now and 2030.”

Australia recently ranked 42nd in Ookla Research’s global broadband speed tests — above the United Kingdom for the first time and up from 82nd place in February.