SAN JOSE, CA – Network-connected devices will outnumber people two to one in the next four years, predicts the annual Cisco Visual Networking Index.
The report also estimates that the total amount of global Internet traffic will quadruple by 2015 and reach 966 exabytes per year. The projected increase of Internet traffic between 2014 and 2015 alone is 200 exabytes, which is greater than the total amount of Internet Protocol traffic generated globally in 2010.
On the verge of reaching 1 zettabyte, which is equal to a sextillion bytes, or a trillion gigabytes by 2015, Cisco predicts that global IP traffic growth will be driven by four primary factors:
– An increasing number of devices, as the proliferation of tablets, mobile phones, connected appliances and other smart machines drives up the demand for connectivity;
– More Internet users – by 2015, there will be nearly 3 billion Internet users, more than 40% of the world’s projected population;
– Faster broadband speed – the average fixed broadband speed is expected to increase four-fold, from 7 megabits per second in 2010 to 28 Mbps in 2015; and
– More video – by 2015, 1 million video minutes, the equivalent of 674 days, will traverse the Internet every second.
Highlights from Canada include:
– Canada’s IP traffic in 2015 will be equivalent to 7 billion DVDs per year, 542 million DVDs per month, or 742,898 DVDs per hour;
– In 2015, the gigabyte equivalent of all movies ever made will cross Canada’s IP networks every three hours; and
– Canadian mobile data traffic will grow three times faster than Canadian fixed IP traffic from 2010 to 2015.
"The explosive growth in Internet data traffic, especially video, creates an opportunity in the years ahead for optimizing and monetizing visual, virtual and mobile Internet experiences”, said Cisco VP Suraj Shetty, in the report’s release.
The annual Cisco VNI Forecast was developed to estimate global Internet Protocol traffic growth and trends, and is based on in-depth analysis and modeling of traffic, usage and device data from independent analyst forecasts. Click here for more statistics and a breakdown by region and country.
