Skip to main content

OpenVault reports 66% upstream usage gap between FTTH and DOCSIS

February 23, 2026

OpenVault’s Q4 OVBI shows Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) subscribers provisioned at 677 Mbps used 93.0 GB upstream in Q4 2025 versus Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) subscribers at 17.3 Mbps using 56.0 GB, a 66% gap that affects capacity planning.

Market Overview

OpenVault sampled usage metrics from selected ISPs in its Q4 OVBI to compare upstream consumption on DOCSIS and FTTH networks.

Key Findings

FTTH subscribers provisioned at symmetrical speeds averaging 677 Mbps consumed 93.0 GB of upstream bandwidth in Q4 2025, while DOCSIS subscribers at the same operator provisioned at 17.3 Mbps consumed 56.0 GB, a 66% difference.

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 from Q3 to Q4.

Segment or Supplier Performance

Most FTTH subscribers were provisioned at mid-range tiers of 200-400 Mbps or 500-900 Mbps rather than at 1 Gbps, while roughly 34% of DOCSIS subscribers were provisioned at the 1 Gbps downstream tier.

DOCSIS customers typically must move to 1 Gbps downstream tiers to access upstream speeds of about 100-200 Mbps.

Technology or Trend Analysis

Many cable operators are expanding upstream spectrum from 5-42 Megahertz (MHz) to 85-204 MHz, which moves upstream speed tiers from an average of 20 Mbps toward 100-200 Mbps.

Upstream usage on DOCSIS 3.1 networks is reported as roughly double that on DOCSIS 3.0 networks.

Forecast or Analyst Outlook

OpenVault noted 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,” said OpenVault.

The report also states that sustained upstream growth, with average annual rates of 17-22% since 2022, accelerates the timeline for band-split and spectrum expansion efforts on cable networks.

Conclusion

The analyst summary indicates that greater upstream provisioning corresponds with higher upstream consumption and continued year-over-year increases, which informs capacity and upgrade planning for operators. This Analyst Signals brief reflects a neutral, fact-based summary of the original research note.