Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 17, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
By 2012, an estimated 44 exabytes of data will be sent across the network each month, according to U.S. networking equipment provider Cisco Systems. One exabyte is one billion gigabytes. In 2007, by contrast, seven exabytes of data were sent each month. Storing such a volume already requires around two billion DVDs.
According to a study, internet data traffic will grow massively in the coming years. (Illustrative image)
Cisco estimates that video will account for 30 percent of internet data traffic by the end of the current year and 50 percent by 2012. Overall, services such as video on demand and internet television would account for nearly 90 percent of consumers’ private data traffic. Cisco expects mobile data traffic to double. After South America, the company identified the greatest growth in Western Europe and Asia. According to the networking equipment provider, the study is intended to provide a realistic basis for necessary expansion plans that should also be helpful to industry and internet service providers.