Asia Pacific Set to Top Internet Traffic by 2020

More than half of the world’s population will be online by 2020 setting yet another digital milestone

SINGAPORE – June 08 2016 — Internet traffic is set to soar to three times its current volume by 2020, according to the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index™ (VNI). The Cisco flagship report on future Internet traffic trends and data attributed this meteoric rise to more users, more devices, more connections, more video and faster speeds. The report noted that over half of the world’s population (52%) will be online by the end of the decade, marking yet another landmark in the digital era.

The 2016 Cisco VNI also noted that Asia Pacific, home to the largest population of internet users, is set to continue leading the mass adoption of connected devices and online behavior. The report outlines a number of key forecasts for the region in 2020:

  1. Asia Pacific will account for over 53% (2.2 billion) of the global Internet population.
  1. Internet of Things (IoT) will take a giant leap forward as Machine to Machines, M2M, will make up 45% of the total number of devices and connections – with Connected Home and Connected Work leading the way.
  1. The Decline of the Desktop. Smartphones are set to eliminate the PC’s dominance. Smartphones will constitute 44% of all Internet traffic while PCs traffic will continue to fall to 31%.
  1. Video will account for 81% of all Internet traffic with faster speeds ushering in an era of the 2 minute, HD Movie download.

The 2016 VNI report highlights a continued trend towards much faster speeds as well as the rapid migration towards mobile and smart devices. All elements from the report point towards a future that is increasingly connected and complex for businesses and consumers.

“The explosion of more users, more devices, and more connections means an exciting era for citizens and businesses as Asia Pacific drives the world’s digital future,” said Chris Heckscher, Cisco’s Vice President, Service Provider Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan. “The digital revolution is well and truly here, and the citizens and companies of Asia are set to reap the benefits.”

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2020

Key Trends Fact Sheet

  • Asia Pacific will be home to over half of all internet users (54% or 2.2 billion).
  • More than 1 billion new Internet users to join the global Internet community, rising to 4.1 billion.

 

  • Asia Pacific will account for 44% of all connections and devices (11.7billion).
  • Globally, devices and connections are set to reach 26.3 billion.

 

  • In Asia Pacific – M2M connections to grow to 5 billion or 4% of all APAC traffic.

o    Connected Homes and Work leading the increase.

  • Globally, M2M connections are set to grow three-fold from 4.9 billion to 12.2 billion – 46% of all connected devices.

 

  • Asia Pacific is HOT. It will have 164 million or 37% of all Wi-FI Hot Spots.
  • Global Hot Spots set to rise to 433 million.

 

  • Video will account for 81% of all Asia Pacific traffic.

o    UHD accounts for 15% of all Asia Video traffic.

  • Video will account for 82% of all global traffic.
  • Virtual Reality to become the new reality – traffic increasing a massive 61-fold.
  • Desktop /personal video-conferencing will be the fastest growing business Internet service, growing from 95 million users in 2015 to 248 million.
  • The way consumers and business users access IP networks and the Internet is shifting from PCs to mobile devices. By 2020, 71 percent of total IP traffic will originate with non-PC devices including tablets, smartphones, and televisions, compared to 47 percent in 2015.
  • The connected health consumer segment will have the fastest growth (five-fold) of M2M connections from 2015 (144 million) to 2020 (729 million).The connected home segment will have the largest volume of M2M connections over the forecast period with 2.4 billion in 2015, growing to 5.8 billion by 2020—nearly half of all M2M connections.


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Cisco VNI Methodology

The Cisco VNI™ Global IP Traffic and Service Adoption Forecasts for 2015 to 2020 rely upon independent analyst forecasts and real-world network usage data. Upon this foundation are layered Cisco’s own estimates for global IP traffic and service adoption. A detailed methodology description is included in the complete report. Over its 11-year history, Cisco® VNI research has become a highly regarded measure of the Internet’s growth. National governments, network regulators, academic researchers, telecommunications companies, technology experts and industry/business press and analysts rely on the annual study to help plan for the digital future.

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Editor’s Notes

Cisco also welcomes press, analysts, bloggers, service providers, regulators and other interested parties to use and reference our research with proper attribution, such as “Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index Complete  Forecast Update, 2015-2020.”

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Lim Choon Hong
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chonglim@cisco.com

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