Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Internet capacity growing along with traffic

By Mass High Tech Staff

Despite media reports that an “exaflood” of traffic on the Internet is coming close to choking network capacity, a new report from TeleGeography shows that, while international Internet traffic is growing, capacity is keeping pace.

For the second consecutive year, the report said, total international Internet capacity grew faster than total Internet traffic, leading to lower utilization levels on many Internet backbones. Between mid-2007 and mid-2008, average traffic utilization levels decreased from 31 percent to 29 percent, while peak utilization fell from 44 percent to 43 percent.

The data contradicts other reports from analysts and industry insiders earlier this year that video and other Internet-based applications were growing at a rate faster than capacity, spelling potential doom for network functionality in the near future. In one example, U.S. research firm Nemertes Research Group Inc. said its study, released last November, “indicates that Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years,” and pegged the cost of fixing the problem at $137 billion.

But the TeleGeography data does show traffic still increasing, particularly when measured on a per user basis, as broadband subscriber growth has been slowing since 2001.

The report also points out a particularly sharp increase in traffic between the U.S. and Latin America, which grew by 112 percent. In contrast, traffic on Internet backbones between major cities in the relatively more mature U.S. market rose a modest 47 percent, according to the report.

Washington D.C.-based TeleGeography, a division of PriMetrica Inc., is a research and consulting firm that tracks communications sector tremds, including international Internet backbone traffic.