Today the “Internet Innovation Alliance (IiA)” took out a full-page ad (back page, at that) in the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers in the United States. The IiA is a broad-based coalition of business and non-profit organizations working to find practical solutions to the challenges facing the Internet. It is committed to upgrading American broadband networks and ensuring every American has access to all the Internet has to offer.

As we reported this morning about the progress of this online publication as the fastest-growing Filipino community web site, we said that our counter has reported visits (hits or clicks) of more-than 2.361-billion (spelled with a B) in less than seven months of operation. To read the article, “The New Kid on the Online Block Has Now the Bragging Rights,” at this link http://www.mabuhayradio.com/content/view/724/51/

The IiA ad said that “in 3 years, 20 typical California households will generate as much (online) traffic as the entire Internet did in 1995.” The source of this statement is Charles Giancarlo of the San Francisco Chronicle, (Dec. 14, 2006, issue).

The MabuhayRadio.com staff has been discussing with our colleagues about the formation of a Filipino-American media cooperative that would use the Internet as the foundation of providing an “Alternative Press” to the Philippines and its more-than 8-million strong Overseas Filipinos. Part of our program called “Vision Philippines 2021” is to hook up all Filipino-American households to the Internet as Phase One. Our Phase Two will involve “reinventing” the Internet in the Philippines, so as to provide online services to the Filipino families that can afford them. Affordability can be made easier by their kin who are working abroad or who have migrated to other countries such as the United States.

We were, therefore, pleasantly surprised when we read today the IiA ad. We immediately sent an e-mail of inquiry on how we could join the alliance.

We are reproducing hereunder excerpts of today’s press release from the Internet Innovation Alliance.

QUOTE.

User Demand for the Internet Could Outpace Network Capacity by 2010     

First Study to Independently Assess User Demand and Internet Capacity Finds Internet Exaflood Could Strike as Early as 2010 

$137 Billion Global Infrastructure Investment Could be Required to Prevent Declines in Service
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW YORK, NY– November 19, 2007 – Consumer and corporate Internet usage could outstrip network capacity both in North America and worldwide in a little more than two years, according to “The Internet Singularity, Delayed:  Why Limits in Internet Capacity Will Stifle Innovation on the Web,” a landmark study conducted by Nemertes Research.  This study—the first-ever to assess internet infrastructure and model current/projected traffic patterns independent of one another—indicates that Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years.
 
The financial investment required to “bridge the gap” between demand and capacity ranges from $42 billion to $55 billion in the U.S., primarily to be spent on broadband access capacity; this is roughly 60-70 percent above and beyond the $72 billion service providers are already planning to invest. Required investment globally is estimated at $137 billion, again primarily in broadband access.
 
“This groundbreaking analysis identifies a critical issue facing the Internet – that we must take the necessary steps to build out network capacity or potentially face Internet gridlock that could wreak havoc on Internet services,” said Larry Irving, co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance. “It’s important to note that even if we make the investment necessary between now and 2010, we still might not be prepared for the next killer application or new Internet-dependent business like Google or YouTube. The Nemertes study is evidence the exaflood is coming.”
 
Voice and bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming and interactive video, peer-to-peer file transfer and music downloads and file sharing are redefining the Internet.  Nearly 75 percent of U.S. Internet users watched an average of 158 minutes of online video in May and viewed more than 8.3 billion video streams, according to research by comScore.  Additionally, wireless devices such as cell phones, Blackberrys and gaming accessories provide consumers ever-increasing access to the Internet, exponentially accelerating consumption of Internet bandwidth according to the Nemertes study. (Snipped)

 UNQUOTE.

To read the above-quoted article in its entirety and other studies about the so-called “Exaflood,” please go to http://www.internetinnovation.org/ and browse its News Section.

(To be continued . . .)