The Internet Capacity Crunch

The rapid growth in online content consumption is putting unprecedented strain on network infrastructure.

As more people stream high-quality content—especially live and on-demand video—bandwidth demands have skyrocketed.

Streaming now accounts for 80% of all internet traffic, with 4K, 8K, and Virtual Reality (VR) streaming pushing networks to their limits​.

Exploding Bandwidth Needs

Since 2023, streaming has overtaken traditional TV, transforming how the internet is used.

• Live Streaming: Live streaming now consumes 17% of all internet traffic, a 15x increase since 2017.

• 4K and 8K Streaming: A single 4K stream requires 15-30 Mbps, 8K demands up to 100 Mbps, and a VR headset can use 200 Mbps.

• Projected Growth: By 2025, global internet traffic is expected to surpass 1,200 Tbps, driven largely by video streaming. As more people stream such events and expect higher resolutions, demand for bandwidth continues to surge.

The Impact on Networks

Traditional networks need help to keep up with rising bandwidth demands. As more people stream or download popular content simultaneously, several issues arise:

• Congestion: As more people tune in simultaneously, ISP core links to the nearest CDN on the internet are overwhelmed, causing service degradation and outages. Major events like Thursday Night Football can consume up to 25% of internet traffic during broadcasts.

• Degraded Service: Service providers often lower video quality or cause interruptions, frustrating users who expect high-resolution streams.

• Data Caps and Fees: Because ISPs are struggling to keep up with demand, they impose data caps and new fees on users to invest in growing their capacity.

Why Traditional Delivery Models Fail

Most content today is delivered via unicast, where each user gets a separate stream from their nearest CDN node. Because public CDNs are deployed on transit and public peering networks, and not inside ISPs and private networks, this approach quickly becomes unsustainable, leading to:

• Inefficiency: Sending multiple copies of the same stream into an ISP to reach each user quickly overloads networks.

• High Costs: As more viewers stream content, delivering those individual streams becomes prohibitively expensive for content providers and, ultimately, their users.

• Limited Reach: Current delivery infrastructure limits content providers' ability to grow their audiences without degrading performance.

As internet traffic continues to grow, it’s clear that traditional content delivery methods cannot keep pace.

Blockcast offers a more efficient solution that allows more of the internet to support rich media experiences anywhere.