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 the Cisco VNI Forecast to estimate future global IP traffic growth. Highlights of current forecast include the following projections:

• Global IP traffic will increase by a factor of four from 2009 to 2014, approaching 64 exabytes per month in 2014, compared to approximately 15 exabytes per month in 2009.
• By 2014, annual global IP traffic will reach almost three-fourths of a zettabyte (767 exabytes). A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.
• By 2014, the various forms of video (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will exceed 91 percent of global consumer traffic.
• By 2014, global online video will approach 57 percent of consumer Internet traffic (up from 40 percent in 2010).
• Globally, mobile data traffic will double every year through 2014, increasing 39 times between 2009 and 2014.

• Cisco VNI: Forecast and Methodology, 2009-2014
• Hyperconnectivity and the Approaching Zettabyte Era
• Cisco VNI: Forecast FAQs
• Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Forecast and Methodology, 2009 - 2014
• Cisco Visual Networking Index 2010 FAQ

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

• 02-JUN-2010
  Annual Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Projects Global IP Traffic to Increase Fourfold by 2014
• 02-JUN-2010
  Cisco Leaders Present the Updated Projections from the Cisco VNI Global Forecast for 2009 - 2014
• 24-MAY-2010
  The Cisco Visual Networking Index: Benchmark for Broadband Demand
• 09-FEB-2010
  Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Predicts Continued Mobile Data Traffic Surge
• 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