Will the Internet crash?

Like an overinflated balloon, the Internet is at risk of breaking because of the amount of  bandwidth online. A new study from Nemertes Research calls on U.S. ISPs to increase their broadband infrastructure over the next few years by tens of billions of dollars. Well, for starters, who is going to pay for this? And will it be taken care of before it reaches a crisis level?

The study says that more cash is needed--between $42 billion to $55 billion on infrastructure on top the $72 billion being spent now. If nothing changes, the increased traffic will slow down the Internet and cause brownouts, much like electrical brownouts. "Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years," the study said.

This may be a case of crying "wolf" too soon, but it may well be a serious warning to every CIO who needs the net for work. Just imagine what would happen to your business if the Internet didn't work one day or if it kept crashing at surprising intervals--at times when you may need it the most. Maybe the situation isn't dire right now, but it may be one day. And we'd like to know what you think about this issue--let us know in the comments.

For more on this emerging problem:
- Check out this InformationWeek article