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Internet Traffic Still Growing Quickly

linuxscrub writes "I guess the previous articles about internet traffic doubling/[time period] being wrong were wrong? A new IDC report states that internet traffic will nearly double annually until 2007. They even use /.'s favorite unit of capacity/storage, the LOC. They predict that internet traffic will be 64,000 LOC/day! Wow, 64000 LOC, that sure sounds impressive!!"

7 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. Nicely written! by tunah · · Score: 5, Informative
    LOC==Library of Congress.

    If you're gonna use an obscure acronym three times, write it in full the first time.

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    1. Re:Nicely written! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      If you're gonna use an obscure acronym

      Also one that's commonly used to mean something else in computer circles (or perhaps I've been spending too long with the suits).

  2. Re:Tell a non techie by Johan+Veenstra · · Score: 5, Informative

    You could ofcourse read the article (as you claim you did):

    "the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress amounts to only 10 terabytes of information"

  3. http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jhtml?containerId=pr2003 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wee more karma to the ACs!

    IDC Finds that Broadband Adoption Will Drive Internet Traffic Growth

    27 Feb 2003

    FRAMINGHAM, Mass., February 27, 2003 - IDC predicts that the volume of Internet traffic generated by end users worldwide will nearly double annually over the next five years, increasing from 180 petabits per day in 2002 to 5,175 petabits per day by the end of 2007. To put these figures into perspective, the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress amounts to only 10 terabytes of information. By 2007, IDC expects Internet users will access, download, and share the information equivalent of the entire Library of Congress more than 64,000 times over, every day.

    "Some industry observers have speculated that slowing growth in Internet traffic is at the root of the current telecom malaise, but IDC research shows that not only is Internet traffic growth strong, but it will continue at near triple digit rates over the next five years," said Sterling Perrin, senior research analyst, Optical Networks at IDC.

    This has some interesting implications for telecommunications equipment suppliers, particularly in the optical market. "As long as the total amount of voice and data traffic on the network continues to increase, then the need will arise for carriers to buy equipment, such as next-generation optical, that transports and manages it cheaper and more efficiently than the earlier generation of pure SONET-based products," said Perrin.

    The IDC study finds that, although growth in the number of Internet users will continue to be an important traffic driver, the migration of those Internet users to bigger access pipes will be even more significant. In particular, broadband adoption by consumers around the world will make this the fastest growing and largest segment in terms of Internet traffic volume generated. By 2007, IDC believes that consumers will account for 60% of all Internet traffic generated, versus roughly 40% for business users. Mobile Internet users are expected to have only a minimal impact on overall traffic volume during the forecast period.

    IDC's recently released study, Worldwide Bandwidth End-User Forecast and Analysis, 2003-2007: More is Still Not Enough (IDC #28875) provides a five-year forecast of global Internet traffic growth over the next five years, broken down by business, consumer, and mobile user segments. The study, which quantifies how much Internet traffic will be generated by end-users, draws on a wealth of IDC survey data including IDC's Internet Commerce Market Model, version 8.3, as well as IDC's forecasts for broadband and mobile access

    To purchase this document, call IDC's sales hotline at 508-988-7988 or email sales@idc.com.

  4. Re:Tell a non techie by JamesO · · Score: 3, Informative
    A petabit is 10e15 bits. That is,

    1 000 000 000 000 000 bits

    Or roughly a billion megabits (125 million megabytes)


    HTH HAND

  5. before anticompetitive DSL ruling by MonkeyBoyo · · Score: 2, Informative

    This report was obviously written before the US anticompetitive DSL ruling. What effect will DSL gouging by the baby bells have on consumer adoption rates? I don't have the bucks to buy the report and see if they factor in pricing.

  6. Early estimates didnt include spam by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is the single largest reason traffic is increasing out of sight, and was never on anyone's prediction list.

    Disclaimer: Spam includes mail, popups, popunders, etc.

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