The Future of the Internet Industry

The Future of the Internet Industry

 
In today’s connected world, Internet connection has become a need instead of a luxury, and a push to ensure universal access is picking up steam. In fact, Facebook and Google have both begun projects to ensure communities without Internet receive free access to the web.

Even lawmakers have taken note of the universal Internet access need. In Wisconsin, the state has awarded $500,000 in grants to expand rural Internet access to incentivize private corporations to offer their services. A similar push is taking place in Canada. Residents of Alberta’s Strathcona County are heavily underserved, only 35% of the county’s residents have access to Internet. The County’s council unanimously voted in favour of funding investment into telecommunication infrastructure. The story is the same overseas; India, which will be part of the largest internet traffic market, is setting aside millions to connect remote villages to the Internet.

There is a major investment opportunity in companies that will be developing the associated IT infrastructure. With many markets across the world aiming to connect more users, billions will be spent in infrastructure. Canadian telecommunications giant, Telus (TSE: T), recently announced it will invest $2.8 billion in infrastructure in order to gain market share in underserved markets. This is on trend with growing North American demand, as evidenced by the infographic. The infographic shows that the North American market generates the most business traffic, watches the most internet TV, and is second in internet gaming.

Underserved Africa is seeing similar investment in infrastructure. French telecoms operator Orange (NYSE: ORAN), international connectivity services provider, BICS (Euronext: BLG), and Internet Solutions (owned by Nippon, NYSE: NTT) have all announced new IT infrastructure investment in Africa. This is a savvy move for the growing market. As the infographic indicates, Africa’s internet traffic has quadrupled in the last five years alone, and this trend is likely to continue.

Original infographic from: Cisco Systems