Networks are an essential part of business, education, government, and home communications. Many residential, business, and mobile IP networking trends are being driven largely by a combination of video, social networking and advanced collaboration applications, termed “visual networking.”

The Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) is the company's ongoing effort to forecast and analyze the growth and use of IP networks worldwide.

Cisco has developed a forecast model to estimate future global IP traffic growth. Based on Cisco and independent analysts' forecasts, highlights include the following:

• Global IP traffic will increase by a factor of five from 2008 to 2013, approaching 56 exabytes per month in 2013, compared to approximately 9 exabytes per month in 2008.
• By 2013, annual global IP traffic will reach two-thirds of a zettabyte (673 exabytes). A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.
• By 2013, the various forms of video (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will exceed 90 percent of global consumer traffic.
• By 2013, global online video will be 60 percent of consumer Internet traffic (up from 32 percent in 2009).
• Mobile data traffic will roughly double each year from 2008 through 2013.

• Cisco VNI: Forecast and Methodology, 2008-2013
• Hyperconnectivity and the Approaching Zettabyte Era
• Download e-book version for handheld devices (PDF - 710 KB).
• Cisco VNI - Forecast FAQs
• Cisco VNI - Global Mobile Data Forecast and Methodology, 2008-2013
• Cisco AR Speaker Series Presentation: VNI Forecast

Cisco VNI Pulse activities provide qualitative views of consumer network usage patterns and trends through direct data collection from surveys and free applications. Designed to provide consumers with individual and aggregate global data on usage trends and mobile network speeds, these applications include:

• Cisco VNI PC Pulse
• Cisco Global Internet Speed Test (GIST)

As bandwidth-intensive advanced services make network resources even more precious, enabling a better understanding of our network behavior will help save another valuable resource: your time.

• Cisco VNI Applications
  Download free applications for PC, iPhone, and Blackberry Storm that show your bandwidth usage or cellular/wi-fi speeds and allow you to compare your data against other users.
• Cisco VNI: 2008 Year in Review / Video Highlights
• Cisco VNI Pulse - Political Survey (September 2008)
  Learn how registered U.S. voters are using video and online technologies to support and enhance political decision-making.
• Cisco VNI Pulse - Global Consumer Survey (Phase 1) (PDF - 305 KB)
  Cisco-sponsored research covers video behaviors and attitudes of consumers from the United States, China, Germany, and Sweden.

Cisco VNI Usage research provides quantitative insights into current activity on service provider networks and qualitative samples of consumers' online behavior. In this cooperative program, more than 20 global service providers share anonymous, aggregate data with Cisco to analyze current network usage trends and gauge future infrastructure requirements.

Participating service providers serve millions of subscribers from around the world. They represent the mobile, wireline, and cable segments throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pac and various emerging markets.

• Cisco VNI Usage Study (October 2009)
• Cisco VNI Usage FAQs

• 21-OCT-2009
  New Cisco Study Reveals Peak Internet Traffic Increases Due to Social Networking and Broadband Video Usage
• 09-JUN-2009
  Updated Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Highlights Hyperconnectivity as a Key Network Driver Advancing Users to the Zettabyte Era
• 10-FEB-2009
  Newest Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Highlights Growth in Mobile Traffic
• 10-FEB-2009
  Cisco Leaders Present the Cisco VNI Mobile Traffic Forecast for 2008 - 2013 and Introduce Free Mobile Applications