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October 17, 2002 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — New data released by research firm TeleGeography
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(telegeography.com) reveals that in 2002 the growth rate of
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international Internet bandwidth slowed to nearly 40 per cent.
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According to a new report entitled Global Internet Geography 2003, the
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maturing Internet markets of Europe contributed most directly to the global
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deceleration of international Internet capacity growth. Europe, which
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accounts for 82 per cent of the world’s cross-border bandwidth, experienced
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an international capacity increase of only 35 per cent, a steep decline from
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the 191 per cent growth rate recorded in 2001.
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“A generally conservative approach to deployments of new capacity accounted
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for a significant portion of the global slowdown. However, much of the
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global deceleration came as a result of corporate financial distress, with
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bankruptcies leading to partial or complete network shutdowns,” said Alan
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Mauldin, Senior Research Analyst at TeleGeography. “Considering how much
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bandwidth was taken offline by companies like Energis, Carrier1, KPNQwest,
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and Teleglobe, it’s amazing that international Internet capacity grew at
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all.”
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KPNQwest, for example, shut down a European network accounting for 192 Gbps
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of international Internet capacity.
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The slowdown was not unique to Europe, however. Latin America’s
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international Internet capacity grew only 65 per cent in 2002 after
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skyrocketing 471 per cent in the previous year, while Asia’s Internet
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bandwidth crept up 55 per cent for the year, compared to 122 per cent in
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2001.
