Global IP traffic is expected to reach an annual run rate of 1.4 zettabytes by 2017, with nearly half of total IP traffic originating from mobile devices, according to the Cisco Virtual Networking Index Forecast.

Released on Wednesday, the VNI Forecast looks at global fixed IP traffic growth and service adoption trends, including the rapid growth of mobile and video services. The study also offers some insight into the business Internet user landscape and trends that could influence adoption of hosted offerings.

In 2012, 26 percent of Internet traffic originated with non-PC devices, which will grow to 49 percent in 2017. Tablets will grow at 104 percent while smartphones will grow at 79 percent, signalling a huge mobile opportunity for web hosts. While many web hosts have offered mobile apps for some time, Liquid Web recently updated its mobile site to include bill payment and the ability to launch new servers.

By 2017, the number of Internet video users will double to 2 billion, up from 1 billion Internet video users in 2012. This seems to also be driving demand for content delivery networks; in 2017, CDNs will carry over half of total Internet traffic by 2017. The emergence of niche CDNs will likely help with this; last week, EdgeCast released a CDN specifically for ecommerce providers and PCI compliance.

Business IP traffic – which includes Internet, backup, VoIP, etc. – will nearly triple between 2012 and 2017. Last year, business IP traffic represented 20 percent of monthly total global IP traffic. Video will account for 58 percent of all business Internet traffic in 2017, up from 31 percent in 2012.

In 2012, there were 1.6 billion IPv6-capable fixed and mobile devices/connections, which will grow to 8 billion in 2017. Forty-two percent of all fixed and mobile networked devices/connections will be IPv6-capable in 2017, up from 14 percent in 2012. In March, Hurricane Electric was the first Internet backbone provider to connect to more than 2,000 IPv6 networks.

Asia-Pacific will generate the most IP traffic by 2017, while the Middle East and Africa will continue to be the fastest growing IP traffic region from 2012 and 2017. By 2017, the highest traffic-generating countries will be the US and China, while the fastest growing IP traffic at the country-level, India will have the highest IP traffic growth rate with a 44 percent CAGR from 2012 to 2017.

Metro traffic will surpass long-haul traffic in 2014, and will account for 58 percent of total IP traffic by 2017. Metro traffic is expected to grow nearly twice as fast as long-haul traffic from 2012 to 2017.

“Cisco’s VNI Forecast once again showcases the seemingly insatiable demand for bandwidth around the globe and provides insights on the architectural considerations necessary to deliver on the ever-increasing experiences being delivered,” Doug Webster, vice president of product and solutions marketing, Cisco said in a statement. “With more and more people, things, processes and data being connected in the Internet of Everything, the intelligent network and the service providers who operate them are more relevant than ever.”