The ‘explosion’ of video content across multiple devices
is right at the heart of driving consumer broadband usage as
global IP network traffic will grow at an overwhelming pace
according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and
Methodology, 2008-2013.
The major growth driver for this data explosion will be video
and in particular mobile video will be the fastest growing
application category. One key application will likley be mobile
multimedia conferencing.
Developed to estimate global
IP traffic growth and based on Cisco analysis and modelling of
independent analysts' forecasts, the VNI projects that
global IP traffic will increase
fivefold by 2013 to56 exabytes per month
in 2013, up from approximately 9 exabytes per month in 2008. By
2013, Cisco believes that annual global IP traffic will reach
two-thirds of a zettabyte (or 667
exabytes).
By 2013, the sum of all forms of video— such as TV, video on
demand (VoD), Internet video, and P2P etc —- will likely exceed 90%
of global consumer IP traffic with video communications traffic,
such as video over instant messaging and video calls, increasing
10-fold from 2008 to 2013.
At the same time, mobile data traffic is predicted to more or
less double each year from 2008 to 2013, increasing 66 times
between 2008 and 2013. By the end of 2013 almost two-thirds (64%)
of the world's mobile data traffic will be video in 2013.
The VNI also sees that there will be a global impact of video
networking on screen size with digital screens of all types are
proliferating along with other consumer devices. It predicts that
not only is the number of networked devices multiplying, but the
number of devices that have screens encourages more video
consumption. Cisco says that the larger screen sizes are also
accelerating the demand for higher-resolution video, thereby
increasing the IP traffic required for each stream.
Commented Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager,
Cisco Service Provider Group, "visual networking is fundamentally
changing the way we communicate, collaborate, view and share all
types of content.”