It saves bandwidth as ISPs pay for 95th percentile usage.
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The 95th percentile is a widely used mathematical calculation to evaluate the regular and sustained utilization of a network connection. It is commonly used among all major internet transit and peering networks, as well as datacenters and ISPs for both capacity planning and/or calculating usage. It roughly means ‘if you peak at 20Mbps, your bill will be for 19Mbps' based on a normal web traffic.
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Reduce the peak traffic load through STM and you reduce the 95th percentile and therefore the bandwidth bill.
EDIT: On VM's network however and most other ISPs the cost of the transit and peering will not be anywhere near as high as the cost of the access network bandwidth. A few quid a Mbit for transit versus the cost of optics, a CMTS card, fibre and lasers for 38Mbit/s makes the transit not that much of an issue.