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Internet Growth 2006: Traffic on the Internet

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Information Gatekeepers Inc
Published: October 2006
Product Code: R403-90
Description
This report forecasts how much traffic will be carried for the period to the end of this decade, on the Internet backbone and on the total national North American. Given this statement of purpose for the report, it is interesting to note that there really is no Internet backbone or North American network, in the sense of an individual entity. In the past, one could, indeed, speak of and measure the backbone traffic on the North American network. The old AT&T reported traffic loads between its Class 1 offices and the relative traffic carried on its high-usage subnet. These were real numbers that could be very accurately measured, monitored, and used as the basis of forecasts for growth.

This has all changed with the transformation to a data-based network with multiple owners. Now one is hard pressed to identify exactly what the Internet backbone is, much less to accurately measure the traffic carried on it.

Given this state of confusion and lack of physical reality of an Internet backbone, one may question the value of a report on forecast traffic. However, while the physical reality is no longer identifiable and measurable, the amount and growth of traffic going across our (somewhat imaginary) Internet backbone is still very real and of great importance. It is the growth of this traffic that
  • Determines the need for equipment additions by the multitudes of carriers contributing to the various segments of this network of networks
  • Supports facility additions (fiber and fiber routes)
  • Requires additions to cable company networks (for high-speed) data
  • Defines the need for higher-speed accesses and all the equipment associated with providing that extra speed
  • Supports the ever-increasing need for safety of data, continuity of service, and privacy of data
  • Suggests the growing value of advertising and similar activities on the Internet
For all of these reasons, knowledge of the future of traffic on the segments of the network and of total traffic is indispensable to all those involved in making plans for the network and all of its subparts.

We recently published a report, “How Much Bandwidth Is Enough in the Access Network” (available from IGI), addressing the question of how much bandwidth service providers needed to plan for in the last-mile plant. That report evaluated end-user tendencies to use bandwidth for video (primarily) and data access (voice being so small that it is only considered peripherally). This report is a companion report that considers the big picture of how much traffic is carried on the backbone network. The “How Much is Enough …” report is concerned with micro issues; this report is concerned with macro issues.

This report begins with a discussion of our basic approach to forecasting Internet traffic. It continues with our:
  • New forecasts for high-speed access growth
  • New forecasts for the high-speed (xDSL, cable modem, and RF) lines and traffic from high-speed access lines
  • New forecasts for the various segments of the usage on access lines (email, searches, file sharing, instant messaging, and miscellaneous, as well as subdivisions of some of these)
  • New FTTP lines and traffic forecast
  • New dial-up data lines forecast and associated traffic forecast
  • New international traffic forecasts
  • Forecasts for various special segments — VoIP, other data networks, private lines networks
  • Long-distance voice
Finally, the report brings all of the parts together for total network forecasts. As the report proceeds through this list of traffic sources, it provides sketches to illustrate the location of the traffic segment in the network. Major conclusions from the report are presented in a separate section.

The Appendixes provide a discussion of IPTV and a forecast for IPTV traffic. Also, extensive material is in the Appendixes, to help the reader with the various traffic concepts in this report.
Table of Contents
Introduction

Approach to Forecasting Traffic on the Internet

Total Network Traffic




High-Speed Access Lines

High-Speed Access Lines Forecast

Rationale for Updating the High-Speed Access Lines Forecast

New H-S Lines Forecast


Household Penetration - New Forecast




Traffic Forecast for H-S Users

H-S Line Traffic

Rationale for Updating the Traffic Forecast H-S Lines

New H-S per Line Traffic Forecast

Change to 75% of BH to Average

Components of BH Traffic Change Over Time

New Forecast of Internet Traffic from H-S Lines




Dial-up Traffic




FTTP Traffic




Total Internet Traffic Forecast

Lightwave Network


Network Location of Internet Traffic


Internet Traffic Forecast




Other Traffic Types on the Backbone Network

International Traffic


Network Location of International Traffic

Forecast for International Traffic


VoIP Traffic


Location of VoIP Traffic on the Network

Forecast for VoIP Traffic


Other Data Networks


Location of Other Network Traffic

Forecast for Other Network Traffic


Private Line Networks


Location of Private Line Traffic

Forecast for Private Line Traffic


Voice Traffic


Location of Voice Traffic

Forecast for Voice Traffic




Total Backbone Traffic

Growth of the Internet




Appendix I - IPTV

IPTV Global Architecture


Super Hub Office

Video Hub Office

Serving Offices


Forecast for IPTV Traffic




Appendix II, Traffic Statistics Relationships




Appendix III, Data Traffic Fundamentals

Internet Traffic Calculations


Bits and Bytes

Transfer Rate

Busy Hour Traffic

Protocol Efficiencies

Statistical Multiplexing

Peaking

Summary of Concepts




Table of Figures

Figure 1, Premise for Forecasting Traffic on the Internet

Figure 2, Internet Traffic Formula

Figure 3, Old Forecast - H-S Lines

Figure 4, New H-S Access Forecast

Figure 5, Comparison of Old (2003) and New (2006) Forecasts

Figure 6, xDSL Catches CMs

Figure 7, H-S Access HH Penetration Rate - New Forecast

Figure 8, Details of New Forecast

Figure 9, BH H-S per Line Usage Old Forecast

Figure 10, Original per Line BH Traffic Forecast

Figure 11, New Forecast for Per Line Traffic

Figure 12, Components of New Forecast for per Line Usage in BH

Figure 13, Components of the Total per Line BH Traffic Estimates

Figure 14, Changes in per Line BH Usage Components

Figure 15, File Sharing Component Decomposition

Figure 16, File Sharing Components - 2006

Figure 17, File Sharing Components in 2010

Figure 18, File Sharing Components Change Over Time

Figure 19, Internet Traffic Formula

Figure 20, Forecast for Internet Traffic from H-S Accesses

Figure 21, Old Forecast for H-S Traffic

Figure 22, Dial-up Lines Forecast

Figure 23, Dial-Up Traffic Forecast

Figure 24, H-S vs. Dial-Up Traffic

Figure 25, Ratio of H-S Traffic to FTTP per Line Traffic

Figure 26, FTTP Line Forecast

Figure 27, FTTP Traffic

Figure 28, Lightwave Network

Figure 29, Network Location - Internet Traffic

Figure 30, Internet Total Traffic Forecast

Figure 31, Internet Traffic Change over Time

Figure 32, Network Location of International Traffic

Figure 33, International Traffic

Figure 34, Location of VoIP Traffic

Figure 35, VoIP Traffic

Figure 36, Location of Other Network Traffic

Figure 37, Other Data Networks

Figure 38, Location of Private Line Traffic

Figure 39, Private Line Networks

Figure 40, Location of Voice Traffic

Figure 41, Voice Traffic

Figure 42, Total Traffic Forecast

Figure 43, Backbone Growth Rates

Figure 44, Internet Growth Rate - New Forecast

Figure 45, IPTV Global Architecture

Figure 46, IPTV Traffic

Figure 47, Bandwidth Requirements - Improved Compression

Figure 48, Traffic/Speed Relationships

Figure 49, Example of Various Traffic Sizes

Figure 50, New Transfer Rate Forecast

Figure 51, Summary of Concepts

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