By Colin Dearborn, Shaw Cablesystems G.P.
The gaming industry continues to grow, eclipsing the movie entertainment industry in revenues. In 2019, the digital video game market garnered $120.1 billion (Super Data, 2020), while the worldwide box office earned $42.5 billion (Comscore, 2020). In a 2018 survey, it was estimated that more than 23 million Canadians played video games (The Entertainment Software Association of Canada, 2018). This means more than 60% of Canadians could be considered gamers. Gamers are demanding higher speeds and lower latencies from their providers to achieve competitive and enjoyable multiplayer gaming experiences. These customers are choosing their service provider on either real - or perceived advantages that the network technologies offered by providers. Additionally, real time applications such as voice and video conferencing require low latency and jitter to perform with high reliability and quality. While it is impossible for any single service provider to control end to end latency of internet traffic beyond their own network, there are steps that can be taken to achieve the lowest possible latency. Multiple Service Operators (MSOs) are constantly developing and deploying the latest technologies and strategies to improve latency and jitter on their networks.