According to an annual Cisco System survey there were a staggering 10.3 billion internet connections in 2011 serving a host of laptop and desktop computers, mobile phones and tablet users.  Common place items that are being internet enabled such as electric meters and televisions are also contributing to the growth.  Even though 10.3 billion is a very large number, it doesn’t compare with the projected 18.9 billion internet connections slated for 2016. Globally that means there will be about 2.5 connections for every person on the planet in 2016.   "It is just a staggering amount of growth facing global networks," stated Doug Webster, senior director for service provider marketing at Cisco stated during a presentation of Cisco's Visual Networking Index Forecast for 2011 to 2016.

According to the survey, the biggest increases are slated to come from India, Brazil and South Africa.  Each of these countries is expected to experience a compound growth rate of over of 50 percent a year between 2011 and 2016, Cisco said.   In 2016 PC’s will be responsible for 81 percent of consumer internet traffic, compared with 94% in 2011. “More and more mobile devices are coming on the network that are causing this growth," stated Webster.  In terms of highest level of internet traffic generated, the US is expected to be highest with 22 Exabyte’s per month, followed by China with 12 Exabyte’s per month. Mobile data traffic is expected increase 18 times to 10.8 Exabyte’s per month between 2011 and 2016 according to the Cisco survey.

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