In five years, online video will consume 80 percent of the global Internet use and rise even higher, to 85 percent in the U.S. So says Cisco’s annual study of the future of Web published Wednesday.

That’s not only because of increasing video watching, but also because by 2019 many more people will be connected – over half the world’s population.

The Cisco forecast says it would take an individual over 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2019.

The Washington Post points out that “When you see the Internet as a huge distribution channel for video, it puts virtually everything that tech and communications companies are doing in perspective (See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/05/27/in-5-years-80-percent-of-the-whole-internet-will-be-online-video/?wpisrc=nl_tech&wpmm=1).

It explains, the Post says, why telecom firms are racing to expand their cellular networks, why content providers such as CBS and HBO are putting video programming online, and why cable companies are increasing their WiFi hotspots. It even throws light on why regulators looked askance at the collapse of the proposed mega-merger of Time Warner Cable and Comcast because of the power it would have over businesses in the video streaming space.

Other highlights from the Cisco forecast:

  • Busy-hour Internet traffic is growing more rapidly than average Internet traffic and is predicted to grow by a factor of 3.4 between 2014 and 2019.
  • Content delivery networks will carry more than half of Internet traffic by 2019, rising from 39 percent in 2014 to 62 percent in 2019.
  • More than half of all IP traffic will come from non-PC devices by 2019, growing to 67 percent.
  • Traffic from wireless and mobile devices will rise to 66 percent while wired traffic will account for only 33 percent. In 2014 wired devices still led with 54 percent of all traffic.
  • Global Internet traffic will equal 64 times the volume of the global net in 2005.
  • The number of devices connected to the Internet will be three times as high as the global population in 2019.
  • Broadband speeds will double by 2019, reaching 43mbps, up from 20mbps in 2014.
  • Globally, mobile data traffic will explode to an 11-fold increase by 2019.

For the complete Cisco forecast see: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/ip-ngn-ip-next-generation-network/white_paper_c11-481360.html