A report by US firm Nemertes Research Group Inc. reveals that the "Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years." The company says increased use of high-capacity functions like streaming, interactive videos and shared music files are pushing the Internet towards gridlock. And while it's not predicting that the Internet will collapse, it warns that it will get very slow, with the biggest impact being the loss of investment in new online applications. "The next Google, YouTube, or Amazon might not arise, not because of a lack of demand, but due to an inability to fulfil that demand," the report said. Nemertes calls for additional spending of up to $55 billion US, or about 70% more than Internet service providers are planning to spend, to build new capacity to avoid the slowdown.

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