New Year’s Eve sees mobile data spike, number of calls and texts drop

Telecom providers report that Dutch people extensively used their smartphones to send New Year’s greetings, resulting in increased mobile data usage compared to last year, according to KPN and VodafoneZiggo.

Vodafone customers used 12 percent more mobile data on the evening hours of Wednesday, leading into Thursday, than during the previous New Year’s Eve. KPN saw an 8 percent increase, reaching 595 terabytes, a new record for the night.

The telecom company noted that this amount equals 30 years of continuous high-quality video streaming. Both providers experienced a clear data peak shortly after midnight.

Sending New Year’s greetings by call or SMS has become less popular. KPN customers made about the same number of calls and sent the same number of texts as last year, while Vodafone saw a 13 percent drop in call traffic.

KPN reports that daily internet usage has stayed consistently high throughout the past year, not just during peak times. The increase is driven by more streaming, greater use of cloud storage, and the growing adoption of AI tools.

Mobile data usage on New Year’s Eve was high but did not set a yearly record. According to KPN, the year’s peak occurred on May 18, when PSV clinched the Eredivisie title, Max Verstappen won a Formula 1 race in Italy, and a major protest against the war in Gaza took place in The Hague.

Even with record demand over New Year’s Eve, KPN’s networks stayed stable without notable disruptions, demonstrating, according to the provider, that the infrastructure is well-equipped to handle major data spikes.