• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, June 19, 2012

Internet video will play a major role in the quadrupling of the Internet over the next four years. That traffic growth from 2011 to 2016, according to Cisco’s latest report, will be driven by a proliferation in devices. Cisco projects that by 2016 the number of network connections will reach nearly 19 billion -- up from 10 billion last year, due to the growth in tablets, mobile phones and other smart devices.

Video will drive the growth. Cisco said to expect about 1.2 million video minutes to travel the Internet every second by 2016. “Globally, there are expected to be 1.5 billion Internet video users by 2016, up from 792 million Internet video users in 2011,” Cisco said. 

Last year, computers accounted for 94% of Web traffic, and that share should drop to 81% by 2016 as more traffic rides on devices like tablets and smartphones. That figure underscores how quickly handheld devices are becoming the gateway to the Web for many consumers. Connected TV usage will also rise and will account for more than 6% of global consumer traffic, up from 4% last year. What’s more, this will account for 18% of Internet video traffic, up from 7% last year.