Internet traffic grows 53 percent from mid-2007

International Internet traffic kept growing in the last year, but at a slower rate than before, and carriers more than kept pace by adding more capacity, research firm TeleGeography announced Wednesday. The findings are important because some U.S. Internet service providers say they are struggling with the expansion of online traffic, and are imposing monthly download limits on heavy users. The figures from TeleGeography don't exactly correlate to average Internet usage by U.S. households, but give an indication of wider trends. TeleGeography said traffic grew 53 percent from mid-2007 to mid-2008, down from a growth rate of 61 percent in the previous 12 months. Growth on long-haul lines in the US was even slower, at 47 percent. The big increase came in regions where the Internet is less mature. Traffic between the U.S. and Latin America more than doubled.