14 DAY TRIAL // Cisco, the top provider of routers and switches that direct Internet traffic, and by that, one of the companies holding the weight of Internet on its shoulders, has said in the voice of its Chief Executive, John Chambers, that the continuing build of networks will be lasting for a decade from now on. The deadline he mentions doesn't sound very encouraging on the long run because it leaves a question hanging: What next?
"I see this generation of build-out going for a decade," he said. "Video loads are what is driving this and it isn't just video entertainment or You-Tube type activities or the ability to do very sophisticated video conferencing."
Chambers told Reuters that his company was registering network loads of up to 500 percent from one year to the next, if it is to meet the demands of next gen networks. "As long as a country or geography has at least two or three major service providers who are moving at the same time you are going to see them continuing to build out networks," he pointed out.
Last year, I wrote about the "death of the Internet," that was supposed to be caused mainly by the user content being uploaded, especially on video sharing sites such as YouTube. The figures back then were somber: the amount of investing didn't match the amount needed, it was almost half of what was required to maintain a functional global Internet network up and running.
Thankfully, John Chambers foresaw that coming and had his company invest a lot in the past in service providers, almost 50 percent of its R&D investment. At the moment, Cisco is actively involved in Israel, buying companies to back up the future demands and taking steps to force innovation into happening as soon as possible, so that it doesn't come to the gloomy perspective mentioned above.