2/10/2009 -- It's shaping up to be an increasingly mobile future, if a new report from Cisco Systems Inc. is any indication. Cisco this week trumpeted the results of its most recent Visual Networking Index (VNI) Mobile Forecast, which covers a survey period from 2008 through 2009.

Over that period, the Cisco VNI predicts, mobile traffic will increase at a staggering rate: Cisco projects a 66-fold increase, with a compound annual growth rate of 131 percent. The driver, according to Cisco, is a looming transition to a fourth-generation (4G) mobile backbone, which will deliver faster access to mobile video and other bandwidth-intensive services.

"The Cisco Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast findings reflect the trend that consumers will use a variety of services, applications and devices to drive an increase in mobile traffic we're predicting," said Suraj Shetty, vice president of service provider marketing with Cisco, in a statement. "The evolving 4G mobile Internet transformation is further diversifying how people access and experience the Internet and is causing an undeniable surge in bandwidth growth."

By 2013, the Cisco VNI projects, global mobile traffic will exceed two exabytes per month. Global mobile traffic growth is already outpacing that of fixed traffic: it took only half the time to break the one-exabyte-per-month barrier, according to Cisco. "The key to success will be delivering video-rich any-play services to users, enabling them to move freely throughout the world while maintaining connectivity to others." said Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president with Cisco's service provider routing technology group, in a release. "[S]ervice providers will have to take into account the need not only for more bandwidth when planning their network architecture but for greater network intelligence as well." --Stephen Swoyer