Internet - the strain of 400 millions

Broadband subs hit 400 million, 'Net bending under the weight
see also Broadband Forum press release and Nemertes press release

The Broadband Forum and research partner Point-Topic announced that there are now more than 400 million global broadband subscribers. That's a long way from the first measurement taken in 1998, when global broadband subscribers numbered barely more than than 57,000. Fiber-based broadband services now account for about 45 million subscribers, according to Point-Topic.

Meanwhile, a new bit of research from Nemertes Research renews the agency's concern, first raised late last year, that broadband user demand will out-strip Internet bandwidth availability in the next two to four years. This time around, Nemertes is especially concerned that the amount of investment required for network capacity to keep pace--between $42 billion to $55 billion in the U.S., and $137 billion globally--could be a difficult mark to meet amid global economic downturn. Unfortunately, we can't stuff bandwidth under our mattresses to save it for a rainy day.