In four years, the majority of data sent throughout the Internet will come from mobile and wireless devices, according to a new report from networking giant Cisco. By 2016, according to Cisco’s latest Visual Networking Index, mobile traffic will make up 10 percent of all data sent over the Internet while wireless data will make up 51 percent of all data, for a total of 61 percent of all web traffic data coming from the two sources. That’s compared to today, when wired devices (physicalled plugged into the Internet) account for the majority of web traffic, at 55 percent.
Another eye-popping projection: Cisco’s report finds that by 2016, video will make up the majority of Web traffic as well, with 54 percent of all data coming from video streams and downloads, and that’s not including peer-to-peer file sharing networks. “It would take over 6 million years to watch the amount of video,” Cisco states. Today, 51 percent of web traffic is devoted to video, according to Cisco.
Currently, Web users send upwards of 30,000 petabytes of data through the Internet every month. By 2016, the number will rise to over 100,000 petabytes a month.
