Jun 8, 2017 11:36 AM PDT    Text size: 

LOS ANGELES — A new report reveals that over the next five years, “global digital transformation will continue to have a significant impact” on content consumers, creators and service providers alike.

Among the findings of the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Complete Forecast are a projected increase in internet users from 3.3 to 4.6 billion (58 percent of the global population), dramatic increases in personal device and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, and a boost in average broadband speeds from 27.5 Mbps to 53.0 Mbps.  

Online video viewing is on the rise, continuing to dominate internet usage with a projected jump from 73 percent to 82 percent of total IP traffic, which is expected to triple from 2016’s 1.2 zettabytes to 3.3 zettabytes by 2021.

That’s a whole lot of data — and it includes a whole lot of porn — with what is truly more video released in the blink of an eye than is watchable in a lifetime.

“Globally, there will be nearly 1.9 billion internet video users (excluding mobile-only) by 2021, up from 1.4 billion in 2016,” the report states, predicting this enormous user base will generate “three trillion internet video minutes per month by 2021, which is five million years of video per month, or about one million video minutes every second.”

The report also notes that emerging mediums such as live internet video will increase 15-fold and reach 13 percent of internet video traffic by 2021, including TV apps and personal live streaming on social networks. This, of course, includes the adult webcam industry, which continues its meteoric growth.

As expected (and hoped for by the adult industry), new technologies will have a significant impact on the internet’s future.

“While live streaming video is reshaping today’s online entertainment patterns, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are also gaining traction,” the report reveals. “By 2021, VR/AR traffic will increase 20-fold and represent one percent of global entertainment traffic.”

That is positive news for those investing in an immersive future.

The complete report can be viewed here. 

An infographic is available here.