There's been a lot of news lately around increased video usage and the strain it continues to put on the network. I've noticed this problem not only exists from a mobile & wireless perspective, but also from fixed broadband angle as well. Regardless of how one chooses to access the Internet, whether it be from their homes or mobile handsets, Internet video usage is an ever-growing problem that isn't getting any better.
Earlier today, Cisco Systems issued a report that supports claims that video viewing is a problem that will only continue to get worse in the future because it takes up so much network capacity. The study forecasts the IP traffic growth rate from 2007-2012 and predicts that Internet video traffic will grow to 400 times from what was carried on the US Internet backbone in 2000. To put this into perspective, the report suggests that video data will account for 50% of data traffic in 2012.
David Gardner of InformationWeek covered Cisco's report today and noted that this growth may likely cause Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to push for Internet metering in an attempt to limit those who are heavy video users.
In relation, another article today in the San Francisco Chronicle speculates that AT&T, the country's largest Internet provider might start to charge extra to those customers who download large amounts of data. With overall bandwidth use on the network doubling every half a year, there is definitely a growing problem here. The article noted that basic Internet users that access email and do general web surfing won't have to worry so much, but those users who download lots of movies, TV and other various forms of video may need to be concerned. Some examples might be downloads of videos from iTunes, YouTube, and Netflix, to name a few.
And with video viewing from mobile handsets being possible through either YouTube, mobile TV, video messaging and more, many of us already knew about the congestion video puts on the wireless network, yet with this new study, we are also seeing more examples of the strain this is causing on the network for ISPs. The video usage problem exists for both mobile and fixed internet providers. Fixed-broadband users may need to keep an eye out for prices going up based on usage in the near future if this problem persists at the rate it's going.
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