The number of network-connected devices will outnumber people 2 in three years time, while a million minutes of Internet video to be transmitted per second, according to a new report.
Communication network Cisco predicts that the number of network-connected devices will be more than 15 billion, twice the world’s population, by 2015.
In the recently released fifth annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast (2010-2015), the company also said 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 by 2015, which is equal to a sextillion bytes, or a trillion gigabytes, global IP traffic growth is driven by four primary factors, according to Cisco.
They are:
1. An increasing number of devices: The proliferation of tablets, mobile phones, connected appliances and other smart machines is driving up the demand for connectivity. By 2015, there will be nearly 15 billion network connections via devices — including machine-to-machine — and more than two connections for each person on earth.
2. More Internet users: By 2015, there will be nearly 3 billion Internet users –more than 40 percent of the world’s projected population.
3. 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. The average broadband speed has already doubled within the past year from 3.5 Mbps to 7 Mbps.
4. More video: By 2015, 1 million video minutes –the equivalent of 674 days –will traverse the Internet every second.
The study predicts that Global IP traffic is expected to reach 80.5 exabytes per month by 2015, up from approximately 20.2 exabytes per month in 2010.
Average global IP traffic in 2015 will reach 245 terabytes per second, equivalent to 200 million people streaming an HD movie (1.2 Mbps) simultaneously every day.
“The explosive growth in Internet data traffic, especially video, creates an opportunity in the years ahead for optimising and monetising visual, virtual and mobile Internet experiences. As architect of the next-generation Internet, Cisco stands ready to help our customers not only accommodate this rapid expansion of Internet activity through the evolution of their networks but also help them thrive as a result of it,” said Reshaad Sha, strategy director at Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group.