Whenever OpenVault releases its quarterly OVBI (OpenVault Broadband Insights), there is always a lot of fascinating data regarding broadband usage to digest. The Q4 report is no different. In fact, the most recent iteration is the first one to provide an apples-to-apples comparison of upstream data consumption on DOCSIS and FTTH networks, quantifying one of the biggest gaps the industry has understood for some time.
According to the report, which is a sampling of usage metrics from across a select number of ISPs, FTTH subscribers provisioned at symmetrical speeds averaging 677 Mbps consumed 93.0 GB of upstream bandwidth in Q4 2025. Their DOCSIS counterparts at the same operator — provisioned at a much lower 17.3 Mbps upstream on average — consumed just 56.0 GB. That’s a 66% difference in upstream consumption. That gap isn’t driven by different subscribers with different habits. It’s the same operator, serving roughly the same markets. The only meaningful variable is how much upstream capacity each subscriber was given.
The implication, of course, is twofold: The first is that, given additional upstream bandwidth, subscribers will definitely use it and likely appreciate it; the second is that mid-split, high-split, and spectrum expansion efforts for DOCSIS networks can’t come soon enough.
The vast majority of cable operators are already well underway with both mid- and high-split upgrades, pushing their available upstream spectrum from 5-42 MHz to 85-204 MHz, which translates into upstream speed tiers moving from an average of 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps-200 Mbps. This is certainly an improvement and gets them into the conversation with comparable FTTH speed tiers.
One factor to keep in mind when parsing this data is that the OVBI notes that most FTTH subscribers are provisioned at the mid-range tiers of either 200-400 Mbps or 500-900 Mbps, rather than at the 1 Gbps tier. Meanwhile, roughly 34% of DOCSIS subscribers are provisioned at the 1 Gbps tier. The difference is due to the fact that, since they are offered symmetric services, FTTH subscribers don’t have to move up to faster downstream packages in order to access higher upstream speeds. On the other hand, for DOCSIS customers to access improved upstream speeds, they must move to the 1 Gbps downstream tiers, which typically offer upstream speeds of 100-200 Mbps.
What ultimately makes the FTTH vs. DOCSIS comparison so consequential is the broader upstream growth trend it sits on top of. According to the report, full-year 2025 upstream usage averaged 55.86 GB across fiber and DOCSIS platforms — a 21.7% year-over-year increase, and a 16.4% jump just from Q3 to Q4 alone. To put that in perspective, the quarter-over-quarter jump in upstream usage is nearly as large as the annual gains from just a couple years ago.
This isn’t a new trend, by any stretch. It is more of a continuation of a trend that was first seen during the pandemic, when residential broadband consumption—both upstream and downstream—skyrocketed. As students have returned to school and employees have returned to the office, the average growth in downstream consumption has moderated and stayed relatively modest. Upstream consumption, however, has continued to surge, with average annual growth rates ranging from 17-22% since 2022.
For cable operators, specifically, this sustained growth in upstream traffic accelerates the timeline for band-split upgrades in the short-term, followed by overall spectrum expansion in the medium term. Most cable operators have been managing upstream utilization rates on the assumption that demand growth was going to moderate, just as it has on the downstream side. Compounding things is the fact that, when comparing with FTTH, the report suggests that opening up more upstream spectrum won’t result in a gradual increase in upstream utilization; it will instead result in a fairly quick acceleration as the latent subscriber demand demonstrates. This is already evidenced by the fact that upstream usage on DOCSIS 3.1 networks is easily double what it is on DOCSIS 3.0 networks. Once again, if the bandwidth is available, subscribers will find a way to maximize it.
For cable operators, many of which are now seeing consistent quarterly broadband subscriber losses, whether the asymmetric design of their DOCSIS networks has truly become a weakness has to be one of the many questions they are asking themselves. Of course, with a large percentage of subscribers leaving for lower-cost FWA services, asymmetry takes a back seat to more immediate concerns around service bundling and pricing.
But when their DOCSIS subscriber base generates 66% less upstream traffic than FTTH subscribers, there has to be genuine concern that upstream constraints are pushing subscribers into the arms of fiber overbuilders offering symmetric speeds.
