Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Nearly half the world’s population will be on the Internet by 2017

Published Jun 14th, 2013 8:45AM EDT
Worldwide Internet Traffic

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Networking company Cisco estimates that Internet traffic will grow three-fold between 2012 and 2017 to reach an annual run rate of 1.4 zettabytes, more than a trillion gigabytes per year. The firm expects traffic to reach nearly 121 exabytes per month by 2017 — equal to 30 billion DVDs, 28 trillion MP3’s or 750 quadrillion text messages — and an increase from 44 exabytes per month in 2012. Roughly 3.6 billion people worldwide are expected to access the Internet by 2017, or around 48% of the world’s projected population. In 2012, 2.3 billion people worldwide used the Internet, accounting for nearly 32% of the world’s 7.2 billion people. Cisco also estimates that the average fixed broadband speed will more than double from 11.3Mbps in 2012 to 39Mbps in 2017. Unsurprisingly, non-PC Internet traffic is expected to reach 49% in 2017, up from 26% in 2012.

Dan joins the BGR team as the Android Editor, covering all things relating to Google’s premiere operating system. His work has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn’t testing the latest devices or apps, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.