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Few things test our patience better than seeing the word “buffering” when watching a video or listening to audio on our computers.  But please, don’t get mad at the internet.  The internet was built to do one thing, move little packets of data from point A to point B.  That’s it.  Bandwidth dictates how many packets make the journey and how fast they get there.  And three things determine your bandwidth:  1-Location.  2-Your Internet Service Provider.  3-Your bank account.

Nearly every business today has some presence on the web.  What if a business was told they could not expand their online presence because there was no more bandwidth available?  Of course, the more likely scenario is that the ISP would charge that business a boat-load of money for meager increase in bandwidth.  (And don’t get me started on charging by the gigabyte ... that’s a whole other rant.)  Businesses today both depend on and demand access to the internet through broadband connections, and consumers expect them to be there.  If broadband availability and capacity can’t increase, how are businesses supposed to grow? 

In a recent interview with Beet.tv, Vint Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google, said scaling is the “biggest threat” facing the internet today.  Coinciding with broadband expansion, Cerf is also anticipating a shift in how people consume video from the internet.  Cerf predicts that media on the internet will move from a streaming to a downloadable method, like podcasting.  “If the capacities of the net get high enough, ... a gigabit connection would let you download a 1-hour video in 16 seconds,” Cerf said.  As more high definition video becomes available, the amount of bandwidth required to transfer these files quickly has greatly increased.  In a recent blog post, I mentioned that eMarketer is predicting the audience for podcasts will grow 251% by 2012.  That prediction could quickly change if we start to see any decline or slowdown in broadband services.

So, what can we do?  Well, a good start would be to contact your representatives in Congress and the US Senate.  Tell them widespread broadband access and increased broadband speeds are vital to the growth and survival of the internet.  Ask them to support incentives that will encourage ISPs to rapidly grow their infrastructure.  Ask them to find ways to lower broadband costs by supporting measures that promote real competition between ISPs.  You can also check out the Internet for Everyone initiative or IPv6 to learn more.

We expand or we die.  In this case, perhaps the ancient Romans had it right.