Study: Internet traffic jam looms in 2010

The future of the Internet is in serious jeopardy.

A new study by Nemertes, an independent research firm, predicts that without substantial increases in infrastructure build-out, the Internet will suffer from the digital equivalent of traffic gridlock by 2010. The study is the first to project the future growth of Internet use and compare it with current plans to expand capacity. It found major deficiencies in current build-out plans. As a result, according to Nemertes President Johna Till Johnson,

"Users will experience a slow, subtle degradation, so it's back to the bad old days of dial-up. The cool stuff that you'll want to do will be such a pain in the rear that you won't do it."

In addition to "cool stuff" like viewing and sharing photos and videos, the online bottleneck will hinder important services like telemedicine, distance learning, and videoconferencing -- services that are crucial to the well being of our people and our economy. It will also slow technological innovation. The report warned:

"The next Amazon, Google or YouTube might not arise, not from a lack of user demand but because of insufficient infrastructure preventing applications and companies emerging."

In order to avoid these future troubles, the United States must redouble its current efforts to expand high speed Internet infrastructure. The Nemertes report calls for up to $55 billion in additional investment -- almost 70 percent more than is currently planned. It's a large sum, but it's essential. As Larry Irving of the Internet Innovation Alliance said,

"We must take the necessary steps to build out network capacity or potentially face internet gridlock that could wreak havoc on internet services."

Our government must act now to preserve the Internet as we know it.

The Internet Singularity, Delayed: Why Limits in Internet Capacity Will Stifle Innovation on the Web (Nemertes)

Video, interactivity could ensnare Web users by 2010 (USA Today)

Net gridlock by 2010 study warns (BBC)