Is the Internet Beginning to Reach Its Limits?

Between the increasing processor speed of computers and the rise of streaming television, the internet has a major problem. It’s running out of bandwidth. The current system of fiber optic cables is beginning to reach its limits, as the amount of data they carry rapidly expands. Several experts in the fields of physics, engineering, telecommunication are about to meet in London this month to try to figure out a solution to the problem, reports the Daily Mail.

While this issue is mostly garnering attention overseas, it’s safe to assume that if it’s a problem in a developed nation like the UK, the situation may be just as serious in other Western countries with significant internet usage. While internet speeds have increased 50-fold in the past ten years, the current infrastructure has reached its physical limits, and something will have to be done soon.

Experts estimate that Britain will run out of bandwidth within 8 years, at which point, costs will soar. This could contribute to the end of the free and open internet, since it would make internet access prohibitively expensive for newcomers. On the other hand, it could also end up stifling the voyeuristic “internet of things” that threatens our future privacy. Either way, if new innovations don’t arrive in the communications field soon, then the internet as we know it may hit a dead-end.