Streaming video company Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is becoming the world’s largest user of bandwidth.
A new analysis by Sandvine, a network equipment maker, found that Netflix is responsible for up to 32.3% of all bandwidth used during peak times, Variety reports.
In all, the amount of bandwidth Netflix is using grew 35% in the 12 months ending March 2013. During that time, overall usage of broadband Internet lines increased 39% to 44.7 gigabytes per month. So Netflix’s growth is in line with the total growth of high-speed Internet usage in homes with fixed-line broadband.
“The fact that Netflix is a third of peak downstream Internet in North America is just a sign that Netflix is very popular and people love to watch streaming video,” a spokesman for Netflix said.
It’s not just Netflix that’s growing its bandwidth, though. Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube actually outgrew Netflix as it rose to 17.1% of downstream traffic in the study. That’s up from 13.2% last year and exceeds the growth of Netflix.
