In 2012, Internet video traffic alone will be 400 times the traffic carried by the U.S. Internet backbone in 2000. Representative of this trend, Internet video has jumped to 22 percent of the global consumer Internet traffic in 2007 from 12 percent in 2006. Video-on-demand, IPTV, peer-to-peer (P2P) video, and Internet video are forecast to account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic in 2012.

According to the recently released Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast for 2007-2012, the increasing use of video is a key trend. In 2012, Internet video traffic alone will be 400 times the traffic carried by the US Internet backbone in 2000. Representative of this trend, Internet video has jumped from 12 percent of the global consumer Internet traffic in 2006 to 22 percent in 2007. Video on demand, IPTV, peer-to-peer (P2P) video, and Internet video are forecast to account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic in 2012.

Global business IP traffic is forecast to grow 35 percent from 2007 to 2012--the increased adoption of advanced video communications in the enterprise are major drivers for business IP traffic growth. "The broad and increasing adoption of visual networking is having a significant impact on IP traffic growth for both consumer and business services markets worldwide," said Suraj Shetty, vice president of service provider marketing for Cisco. While video has been common on the Internet since the late 1990s, many experts trace increased demand to the explosive popularity of YouTube. The site demonstrated how short-form video could help drive businesses. In addition, YouTube and other video sites developed consumer services that make it easier to post and view video clips.