IDC: Internet traffic to keep doubling each year

The amount of information transmitted globally over the Internet will continue to double each year over the next five years, according to research released earlier this month by IDC.

In 2002, the traffic volume was 180 petabits per day (one petabit = 1 million gigabits). This will increase to 5,175 petabits per day by 2007, according to IDC.

The main driver will be a move to broadband access by current users rather than growth in subscribers to the Internet, according to IDC. Broadband adoption by consumers will be the largest and fastest-growing sector of the Internet traffic market by 2007, IDC said.

By that time, consumers will account for 60 per cent of all Internet traffic compared to 40 per cent for business users. Mobile Internet users will have a minimal effect on traffic volumes, IDC said.

The strong growth pattern has interesting implications for the telecommunications industry as a whole and for telecommunications equipment suppliers in particular, according to IDC.

First, the current malaise in the telecommunications market cannot be attributed to slowing growth of Internet traffic, as some industry observers have suggested.

Second, as traffic continues to grow strongly, carriers will be looking to buy next-generation optical equipment which is faster and more efficient than that based on today’s Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) technology.

This may include the Optical Transport Networks (OTN) standard which has been adopted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a proposed standard to be known as ITU-T-G.709. OTN aims to increase network bandwidth, reducing the need to convert optical signals into electrical signals.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now