Cisco Claims Wifi & Cellular Data Will Account For 60% Of All Internet Traffic By 2016

Cisco, the global leader in producing networking equipment, has released the latest version of its Visual Networking Index (via ArsTechnica), that measures global Internet usage and predicts future trends. The statistics claim that by 2016, WiFi will account for 51 percent of all internet traffic while cellular data will take a 10 percent share. Cisco’s numbers show the proportion of traffic going over WiFi at the point where it reaches end user devices in the form of smartphones, tablets and laptops. In case of rising cellular data usage, 4G and LTE technologies are being held responsible.

According to the source:

All types of traffic are growing, with a fourfold increase expected between 2011 and 2016. 30.7 exabytes of data crossed IP-based networks per month in 2011. That number hit 44 exabytes per month this year and will keep rising to 110 exabytes per month by 2016, Cisco said. Technology predictions are often wrong, but Cisco said its track record is pretty good. In 2007 Cisco predicted IP traffic would reach 28.4 exabytes per month by 2011, and the actual number turned out to be slightly higher.

Some other trends: Cisco expects average fixed broadband speeds to increase from 9Mbps in 2011 to 34Mbps per second in 2016; 45 percent of the world’s population will be online by 2016, totaling 3.4 billion Internet users; and network-connected devices will nearly double from 10.3 billion in 2011 to 18.9 billion in 2016.

The report also notes that Asia/Pacific countries are producing the most Internet traffic worldwide, followed by Middle East, Africa and North America.

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