Networking & Wireless

IoT to Represent More Than Half of Connected Device Landscape by 2021

• By Sri Ravipati
• 06/09/17

The total number of devices connected to IP networks is projected to be three times the global population by 2021. Internet of things (IoT) technologies specifically are expected to represent more than half of the total 27.1 billion devices and connections.

The infographic represents data for North America, where there will be an estimated 12.9 networked devices and connections per person. Image: Cisco.

That analysis comes from Cisco’s recent Visual Networking Index for the 2016-2021 forecast period. Wireless and mobile devices will make up 63 percent of total IP traffic by 2021 — up from 51 percent in 2016. ”TVs, tablets, smartphones and machine-to- machine (M2M) modules will have traffic growth rates of 21 percent, 29 percent, 49 percent and 49 percent, respectively,” according to the report. Connected home, connected healthcare, smart cars and other M2M services will play a key role in this growth. Notably, traffic from smartphones will outpace PC traffic by 2021. PCs in 2016 accounted for 46 percent of total IP traffic, but they will only make up 25 percent of traffic by the end of the forecast period.

The company also found that internet traffic during the “busy hour,” or the busiest one-hour period in a day, is outpacing average internet traffic. Busy hour traffic will increase 51 percent in 2021 compared to 32 percent in 2016. To compensate, broadband speeds are expected to double (from 27.5 mbps to 53 mbps) by 2021.

Other key takeaways include:

• IP video traffic will increase from 73 percent of all internet consumer traffic in 2016 to 82 percent in 2021 (with live streaming accounting for 13 percent);
• Virtual and augmented reality traffic is expected to increase 20-fold during the forecast period at a compound annual growth rate of 82 percent; and
• Internet video surveillance traffic is anticipated to grow during the forecast period, comprising 3.4 percent of all internet traffic.

To learn more, view the full report.