Upstream Speeds, Needs Up Again

Just a quick update to my earlier piece on upload speeds, fiber, and why municipal broadband was beating cable in the game of speeds and feeds. New data from OpenVault backs it up.

Speaking on the Fiber for Breakfast podcast, OpenVault CEO Mark Trudeau pointed out that during the first quarter of 2026, the fiber upstream average crossed 100 GB for the first time, reaching 106.7 GB. DOCSIS subscribers on the same systems used 56.9 GB. That’s an 87.4% delta, up from the 66% gap OpenVault reported just a quarter ago in Q4 2025.

Fiber subscribers averaged 943.4 GB overall against DOCSIS subscribers’ 720.5 GB in total data consumption. The median gap was even wider, 721 GB on fiber versus 496 GB on DOCSIS. Fiber subscribers averaged 556 Mbps upstream. DOCSIS subscribers averaged 43 Mbps.

As I have always said, give people the pipe and the bandwidth, and they will find a way to use it. Yes, I know one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but a handful of them do show coming warmth. Two consecutive quarters of widening delta, with fiber upstream now above 100 GB for the first time, is starting to look like we are firmly an upstream nation.

April 8, 2026