According to the Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) "Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast (2012-2017)," global IP traffic will grow three-fold between 2012 and 2017. Global IP traffic (fixed and mobile) is expected to reach an annual run rate of 1.4 zettabytes - more than a trillion gigabytes per year - by 2017.Cisco expects that by 2017, there will be about 3.6 billion Internet users, more than 48% of the world's projected population (7.6 billion); in 2012, there were 2.3 billion Internet users, about 32% of the world's population (7.2 billion). In the same timeframe, the company expects there will be more than 19 billion global network connections (fixed/mobile personal devices, M2M connections, et al.), up from about 12 billion connections in 2012.Among other predictions:

• By 2017, more traffic will traverse global networks than all prior "Internet years" combined.



• Metro traffic will surpass long-haul traffic in 2014 and will account for 58% of total IP traffic by 2017. Metro traffic will grow nearly twice as fast as long-haul traffic from 2012 to 2017.



• Content delivery networks (CDNs) will carry more than half of total Internet traffic by 2017.



• WiFi and mobile-connected devices will generate 68% of Internet traffic by 2017.



• Nearly half of total IP traffic will originate with non-PC devices (including tablets, smartphones, and TV sets) by 2017.