Erik Gruenwedel

March 25, 2020

With millions of people quarantined in their homes to help thwart the spread of the coronavirus, new data from comScore says average in-home data use has jumped 18% so far in March compared with the previous-year period.

With upwards of 70% of American schools shuttered amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the report found that the most notable device-level data usage increases are for mobile phones, smart speakers, connected TVs and streaming boxes/sticks. These increases are likely attributable to more Americans using the Internet on their phones to work from home and all family members interacting with more streaming media while staying home.

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Indeed, video game consoles (+48%), smart speakers (+44%), streaming boxes/sticks (+38%) and connected TVs (+37%) all saw significant year-over-year upticks in data use.

“If the current quarantines continue across the country, we expect this upward data usage trend to continue, as consumers shift their work, school, information gathering, shopping and entertainment habits amid the COVID-19 crisis,” Bill Livek, CEO of comScore, said in a statement.

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