The Internet is Growing Exponentially

According to research by Cisco, there will be 3.3 ZB delivered across the internet in 2021, compared to 1.2 ZB delivered in 2016. This represents an almost three-fold increase in internet traffic.

The growth in busy hour traffic (traffic during the busiest 60 minute period of the day) will be even greater than the growth in average traffic. Between 2016 and 2021, global busy hour internet use is expected to grow at a CAGR of 35 percent.

The growth of internet traffic is determined by many factors but there are certain trends that will accelerate the growth even further. The most potent among them — video. It is growing in popularity as the number of possible applications increase. But this type of content is not only growing in quantity. As quality increases, video files tend to take up way more space than they used to and are getting increasingly “heavier”.

Where the Growth is Coming From

VIDEO

The sum of all forms of video (i.e. internet video, IP VoD, video file exchanged through file sharing, video-streamed gaming, and video conferencing), will continue to dominate internet traffic. Video content will grow three-fold from 2016 to 2021. By 2021, video (in all its forms), will account for 82% of global internet traffic.

One of the main reasons for such staggering growth is the “weight” of superior quality videos (Ultra-High-Definition, 4K). The bit rate for these types of formats run about 18 Mbps. That’s more than double the current HD video bit rate and nine times more than Standard-Definition (SD). The popularity for higher quality content (or popularity for the devices that serve this content) will continue its upward surge as people are becoming more quality-oriented. Cisco estimates that by 2021, 56 percent of the installed flat-panel TV sets will be UHD, up from 15 percent in 2016.

Virtual reality and augmented reality.

New hardware developments like VR and AR will also play a part in spurring the growth of Internet. Traffic related to this type of content will grow twenty-fold. This growth stems mainly from the download of large virtual reality content files and applications, but a significant wild card remains the potential adoption of virtual reality streaming, which could raise the predicted numbers of high-growth even higher.

Video surveillance

A big shift is happening in the surveillance video industry. New internet-connected video surveillance cameras are constantly uploading video stream to the cloud. With a steady flow of video traffic from each camera, video surveillance is already making an impact on overall internet traffic.

If such devices become mass marketed in the next five years, we could see video cameras generating a significantly higher volume of traffic, since internet-enabled cameras can produce up to 300 GB per camera per month for full HD-resolution monitoring of high-activity areas.

The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is also helping to increase the numbers of internet traffic growth. The number of internet-connected things will grow over two-fold by 2021. The amount of traffic these connections in turn will generate will grow even more sharply. It will increase more than seven-fold from 2 EB per month in 2016 to more than 14 EB by 2021.

Again, the underlying reason are video files. All these connections are deploying growing numbers of video applications.

Gaming

New gaming consoles such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have vast amounts of onboard storage, which enables gamers to download the games instead of buying them on disc. These downloads often rise in frequency during peak times of internet usage.

In the near future, cloud gaming might even begin to rival video content. Game graphics will be produced on a remote server and streamed over the network to the gamer. The transmission of these large files will take up multiple times more Internet traffic than it does now.

Broadband speed

Another factor contributing to the growth of internet traffic is the availability and speed of the internet connection itself. Broadband speeds tend to increase the amount of content people stream and download. Users with greater bandwidth generate more traffic.

In 2016, households with high-speed fiber connectivity generated 28% more traffic globally than households connected by DSL or cable broadband. In 2016, households with high-speed fiber connectivity generated 28% more traffic globally than households connected by DSL or cable broadband.

The average broadband speed will continue to grow and will nearly double between 2016 and 2021, from 27.5 Mbps to 53.0 Mbps.

What it means

The current internet infrastructure cannot keep pace with the ever growing level of internet content demands. New and groundbreaking ideas must be implemented to solve this problem.

NOIA Network is exactly what the Internet needs right now. With the help of Blockchain, AI and Peer-to-Peer sharing protocol technologies NOIA Network’s team is building a decentralized Internet infrastructure which unlocks vast amounts of resources that will be used to deliver future Internet’s content.

Every household computer or business data center can be used to lend their idle bandwidth and storage resources by becoming a NOIA Network node client. In exchange they receive NOIA tokens. These network participants will form a new additional layer of Internet infrastructure that creates more possible roads upon which to travel.

NOIA Network is the perfect solution to increase content delivery capacity for our Internet infrastructure.