IP: ISPs SAY INTERNET DEMAND EXCEEDS TECHNOLOGY -- from Edupage

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Internet service providers and equipment vendors are warning that Internet
bandwidth demands are growing much faster than the capacity of Internet
backbones.  For instance UUNet Technologies reports that Internet traffic
used to double every year, but now its doubling every three to six months:
"We have to radically alter our backbone very, very regularly," says a UUNet
VP.  "We and everybody else are going to have a difficult time keeping up
with bandwidth demand."  ISPs complain that new video applications are
straining current technology, and that it's difficult to build up the
backbone without knowing in advance which Internet applications are going to
prove most popular:  "We're being asked to build bandwidth for the future
without really knowing what the traffic will be," says the chairman of
Netcom On-Line Communications Services.  And while all agree that eventually
usage-based pricing will prevail, some are suggesting that the industry may
also move to a distance-sensitive pricing scheme, similar to that used by
long-distance telephone providers.  (Information Week 16 Mar 98)