Study: Internet video to explode

A new study by Cisco Systems finds that Internet video is about to grow dramatically over the next five years, driving up overall Internet traffic fivefold from what it is today, according to WSJ.com. The demand for communications networks will grow dramatically between 2008 and 2013, said Cisco.

The study was unveiled as Cisco released an application--which is similar to an electric meter--allowing people to track how much bandwidth their day-to-day activities consume. Cisco is releasing another device for iPhone and BlackBerry owners that tracks how fast the devices connect to the Internet from different locations.

Cisco said it expects Internet usage to reach 56 exabytes per month--up from nine exabytes per month in 2008. The biggest driver in the usage increase is video. More than 90 percent will come from television, video on demand or file sharing between computers. Cisco also said video chat will increase tenfold in the same time period.

For more on the video explosion:
- check out this WSJ.com article

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