Australians will be using seven times as much internet data by 2016 than they currently use, Cisco has predicted, highlighting the importance of the National Broadband Network.

The sixth annual Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast (2011-2016) predicts internet traffic in Australia will grow 7.3-fold from 97 Petabytes a month in 2011 to 708 Petabytes a month in 2016 – a compound annual growth rate of 49%.

According to Cisco Australia’s internet traffic in 2016 will be the equivalent of two billion DVDs per year.

According to technology commentator, Pete Blasina, The Gadget Guy:

“These projections clearly illustrate why Australia has made the right choice in building a National Broadband Network that delivers a fibre optic connection to homes, businesses, schools and hospitals.

“When you consider Cisco’s prediction that within four years time the gigabyte equivalent of every movie ever made will cross the internet every three minutes, it’s clear the need for a ubiquitous, robust broadband infrastructure has never been more critical.

“Australia resides in the region that will have the largest amount of internet protocol traffic in 2016. As a country, can we afford not to be at par or even ahead of the Asia Pacific data growth curve?”

NBN Co’s chief technology officer, Gary McLaren says, “Australia’s ability to participate in the digital economy is being held back by the unequal access to broadband around the country and a chronic need for faster upload speeds.

“A National Broadband Network with fibre at its core removes these bottlenecks making it easier for families and business owners to create and send large files, work from home and participate in video chats and conferences. It will enable true two-way broadband communications.”

The upgrade to Australia’s ageing communications infrastructure project is expected to take around a decade to complete, with 93% of premises receiving broadband via fibre optic cable, 4% via fixed-wireless and the remaining percentage by satellite.