Limited Internet access within 4-5 years?
The ever-expanding frontier of the Internet is driving an information explosion – however, technology research group, Gartner, suggests that data access may well be curbed within the next 4-5 years.
Speaking at an event in Fourways on Thursday (February 23, 2012) Steve Prentice, Group VP at Gartner, noted rising dependence on the Internet and mobile communications.
“There are more mobile phones in the world than people,” he said, adding that more mobile phones are being produced than toothbrushes.
According to Gartner, Global IP traffic is doubling every two years, while mobile data traffic is doubling every year. In 2012, the Internet is expected to be 75 times larger than it was a decade ago.
With more than one billion web pages, and two billion unique users worldwide, “we are now moving towards the internet of things,” Prentice said.
He continued saying that, within that sphere, “Internet growth is expanding data horizons, but that future will start to bite in about 4-5 years’ time.”
Users may increasingly have to start paying for content, he continued, saying that “this ubiquitous access may end up turning into a ‘splinternet’.”
With the rise of mobile devices being used to access the Internet, Gartner cautioned that providers may turn around and begin to limit access to certain content.
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