The Internet's Physical Backbone Is Maxing Out

Forget about running out of IPv4 addresses, we are running out of backbone. No, not that kind of backbone, the phat pipe type of backbone and we are pretty much maxing out how much Internet traffic can be sent through the existing infrastructure.

If you up the power beyond a certain point, the fibers becomes light-saturated and the signal degrades. And we’re very close to reaching that capacity limit, according to researchers who convened at a Royal Society meeting in London this week to discuss the matter.

Comments