When Al Gore was building the Internet with his bare, bit-encrusted hands, I told him we were going to need bigger pipes (I planned to download an ungodly amount of cosplay porn, so I already knew). Turns out I was right: A study by Nemertes Research Group, an independent analysis firm, speculates that corporate and consumer use of the Internet could lead to brown-outs in two years, unless primary service providers invest $137 billion into upgrades and repairs to account for growing capacity.
“Our findings indicate that although core fiber and switching/routing resources will scale nicely to support virtually any conceivable user demand, Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years.”
A major culprit in the coming flood is on-demand streaming video, which the analysts think will create an "exaflood" of high-bandwidth Internet content that could overload the system. I've downloaded a few "exafloods" in my time -- so much so that I'm thinking of calling my new band Exaflood.
The brunt of the expense falls on the backs of service providers, but the study offers several suggestions that the government could employ to help out. U.S. Congress could require home contractors who receive government assistance for building affordable housing to include broadband connections in their structures; the government could also offer tax credits to assist providers in adding more capacity.
I think we should all do our part: If everyone sends me a cash donation, I promise to use it for increasing the capacity of the Internet, and not for cosplay porn. Mostly.
Study: Internet could run out of capacity in two years (Macworld)
Thanks to Emily
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