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UK may impose internet rationing as electricity depletion looms

Sunday, 03 May 2015 9:34 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 May 2015 10:33 PM ]

Britain may ration the web. (file photo)

Britain could face mandatory internet rationing as web electricity consumption threatens to consume the country’s entire power supply, experts warn.

Internet rationing or increasing costs in order to update infrastructure might be required, otherwise fiber optical networks will reach their limit within the next eight years, The Independent quoted Professor Andrew Ellis as saying on Sunday.

The capacity people have been able to reach has been doubling every two years, he added.

"We can't get much more capacity in one fiber, and there have been signs of slowing since 2010,” the professor of optical communications said.

According to experts, the UK is facing an impending “capacity crunch” with video streaming sites such as YouTube and Netflix putting unparalleled strain on communications infrastructure.

With streaming on PCs and TVs, internet transmission already takes up between 8 and 16 percent of UK’s electricity, experts note.

Major telecom operators use the energy equivalent of three nuclear power stations and with the rise on internet demand in the UK the nation's entire power supply may be depleted by approximately 2035, if certain measures are not taken, the professor said.

“One way is rationing and another way is charging or taxation of service providers,” Ellis noted. “It’s the first time we have had to worry about optical fibers actually filling up.”

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