Netflix's Internet Traffic Overtakes Web Surfing

NEW YORK (CBS4) -- Move over Web surfing. Netflix movies now take up more of the Internet pipes going into North American homes, according to a recent study.

The study published Tuesday by Sandvine Inc. shows that Netflix movies and TV shows account for nearly 30 percent of traffic into homes during peak evening hours, compared with less than 17 percent for Web browsing.

Only about a quarter of homes with broadband subscribe to Netflix, but watching movies and TV shows online takes up a lot of bandwidth compared with Web surfing, email and practically every other Internet activity except file sharing and videoconferencing.

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