A report entitled “Estimating the Exaflood: The Impact of Video and Rich Media on the Internet“ released by the Discovery Institute estimates that by 2015 annual U.S. Internet and IP traffic will reach 1,000 exabytes, or one zettabyte, which is one million million billion bytes of data.
According to the report, capacity in broadband access networks to homes and businesses must expand by a factor of between 10 and 100 over the next few years. New network investments expanding bandwidth, storage, and traffic management capabilities in the U.S. could total more than $100 billion in the next half-decade alone.
It is estimated that by 2015:
movie downloads and P2P file sharing could be 100 exabytes
video calling and virtual windows could generate 400 exabytes
“cloud” computing and remote backup could total 50 exabytes
Internet video, gaming, and virtual worlds could produce 200 exabytes
non-Internet “IPTV” could reach 100 exabytes, and possibly much more
business IP traffic will generate some 100 exabytes
other applications (phone, Web, e-mail, photos, music) could be 50 exabytes
Technology remains the key engine of U.S. economic growth and its competitive edge, the authors contend. Policies that encourage investment and innovation in our digital and communications sectors should be among America’s highest national priorities, they believe. Read the full report here.
For More Information:
Technology & Democracy Project — Hance Haney 1015 Fifteenth Street, NW Suite 900 — Washington DC 20005 202-558-7085 phone — 202-558-6763 fax
email: hhaney@discovery.org
Source: Report by Bret Swanson & George Gilder – Discovery Institute’s Technology and Democracy Project (TDP) – January 29, 2008
ShareThis
