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Web Demands Could Cause Gridlock by 2011

High-grade apps could slow Internet to crawl, watchers say

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 13, 2008 1:54 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The Internet's growing data richness could lead to major web traffic jams within a few years. Some research predicts that user demands—with the high-bandwidth needs of video clips, social networks, and online games—could top network capacity in short order. YouTube alone used more bandwidth in 2007 than the whole web did in 2000.

The situation is not one of looming disaster, the New York Times cautions, but rather of potential slow-downs on a local basis. Some observers aren’t concerned, convinced that router computers, fiber optic transmission, and other software are keeping up with the rate of traffic growth; others say only bigger corporate and government investment will let you surf faster in a few years.

Chinese lnternet websurfers at an Internet cafe
Chinese lnternet websurfers at an Internet cafe   (Getty Images (by Event))
An Afghan man works on a computer at an Internet Café in the city of Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008.
An Afghan man works on a computer at an Internet Café in the city of Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Aalluddin Khan)
Microsoft researcher Curtis Wong draws a crowd as he demonstrates Microsoft Corp.'s WorldWide Telescope, Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at TechFest.
Microsoft researcher Curtis Wong draws a crowd as he demonstrates Microsoft Corp.'s "WorldWide Telescope," Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at TechFest.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division and 1st Infantry Division enjoy some computer time in their camp's newly-opened internet cafe in this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 file photo near Fallujah, Iraq.
Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division and 1st Infantry Division enjoy some computer time in their camp's newly-opened internet cafe in this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 file photo near Fallujah, Iraq.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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Nortel to roll out faster consumer network
Reuters

More on what companies are doing to cope with rising bandwidth demands
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social networking • Internet • video conferencing • web traffic • bandwidth • dark fiber

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