Global Internet traffic will reach a staggering 966 exabytes (one exabyte equals a quintillion bytes or 1,024 petabytes) by 2015, as the number of connected devices hits 15 billion.
According to Cisco, each person will own two such devices, with the average American weighing in at seven network-connected devices.
Unsurprisingly, online video and tablets are the primary culprits for the exponential growth in traffic – with one million video minutes expected to traverse the Internet by 2015.
Meanwhile, tablets will generate approximately 6% of Internet traffic, as Wi-Fi traffic surpasses fixed broadband.
Broadband speeds could increase from 7Mbps to 28 Mbps, although telecom carriers remain skeptical, saying such speeds are contingent on several variables.
Profit, of course, is the obvious concern, with some carriers warning investment in faster infrastructure could lag if profit isn’t absolutely guaranteed.
“We can’t take investment … for granted. There is a risk at some point that cost will surpass revenues,” explained Carlos Rodriguez, manager of regulatory affairs at Telefónica USA.
It should be noted the above-mentioned data and its parent report has been labeled a “sales brochure” by at least one analyst.
“There is [clearly an] overlap between the people who prepare the forecast and the people responsible for marketing Cisco’s line of core-network hardware to service providers,” Steve Crowley, a consulting engineer, wrote in a recent blog post.
“The forecast is used to help sell that hardware… As with any sales pitch, whenever you hear a spectrum claim, consider the source.”
[Via PC World]
