Evenings produced peak data activity among Irish people, with 10pm proving the busiest time for online engagement
(Stock image)
There was a record-breaking 19pc surge in mobile data usage last year in Ireland, according to telecommunications giant Vodafone.
The company’s latest annual network report reveals that, between 2024 and 2025, data usage by its customers rose from 445,133 terabytes (TB) to 530,794 TB, or half a petabyte (PB).
Tuesday, December 9, was the busiest day of the year for Vodafone connectivity in the country, coinciding with Storm Bram as it swept the country, leaving various levels of destruction in its wake.
Flooding in the harbour area of Dundalk during Storm Bram. Picture: Cllr Sean Kelly/Facebook
On that day, 1,660 TB of data was consumed as people stayed in touch remotely while isolating from the treacherous weather conditions.
Meanwhile, evenings produced peak data activity among Irish people, with 10pm proving the busiest time for online engagement.
However, Vodafone also determined that voice calls are decreasing in popularity among users, with an 8pc decrease in its voice traffic year on year. It said that this trend reflected a growing preference for messaging, video calls, and social platforms over traditional voice communication.
Voice calls still have very much a place as a medium of communications though, as Wednesday, March 26 was the busiest day for calls last year for Vodafone customers with around 10 million calls lasting an average of three minutes.
The festive period inevitably proved to be one of the most active times for calls as 3.4 million were recorded on Christmas Day, while New Year’s Day facilitated 4.5 million.
The trends in data usage by Vodafone customers last year are marked by some notable peaks during occasions such as the Irish rugby team’s Autumn international clash with world champions South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on November 22, during which there were 15,000 calls made.
Ireland and South Africa players contest a scrum during the Quilter Nations Series match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Photo credit: Niall Carson/PA Wire.
Spikes in data were also consistent with major music and cultural events taking place over the summer as Vodafone says it handled morethan 5 TB of mobile data during Dua Lipa and Lana Del Rey’s sell-out Aviva Stadium concerts, which prompted the sharing of thousands of photos, videos and live streams on social media by fans.
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