Virgin Media Business predicts 'hyper-connected future'

Virgin Media Business has offered a glimpse of a "hyper-connected future" for Britain in a new report carried out in partnership with The Future Laboratory.

Entitled Generation IP:2025, the publication predicted the amount of data consumed by businesses and citizens will see a huge surge over the next 13 years.

By 2025, the volume of data stored is set to reach 100 zettabytes - equivalent to 36 billion years of high-definition video footage.

Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business, described a world in which households will be able to monitor everything from energy consumption and health to how much milk is in the fridge.

While UK businesses are currently waiting eagerly for the introduction of 4G mobile broadband technology, Mr Heraghty said 5G "self-organising networks" are just around the corner, helping to connect cities faster than at any other time.

"The world in 2025 will be more empowering and connected than ever before," he commented.

"What's more, the infrastructure to enable the rapid transmission of that data will be vital but invisible."

Virgin Media Business is not the only organisation to predict a major rise in network traffic, with ABI Research recently claiming mobile data volumes will exceed 107 exabytes in 2017.