ompute very significant exercises such as weather prediction and warfare simulation), would require 50Pbps to 200Pbps additional capacity; and Web agents would also require an additional Chapter 10 Next-Generation Networks capacity of 50Pbps to 200Pbps. When broadband access reaches the 100Gbps rate, which is projected for later this decade, backbones will require exabits per second (1Ebps = 1 billion Gbps). Communications Bandwidth Trends Technology breakthroughs, particularly in optical systems, have had a profound impact on service providers, resulting in several years during which we've experi- enced a glut of bandwidth and sharply declining prices on intercontinental capacity. However, a study conducted by Primetrica, Inc. ("Executive Summary International Bandwidth 2005," www.telegeography.com, published in 2005, reports that prices were relatively stable in 2004: "While median prices continued to decline, these decreases were often the result of high-priced carriers bringing their rates in line with prevailing market prices, rather than by further reduction on the low end of the market." In addition, the study reports that "bandwidth demand has grown rapidly enough to offset price declines in much of the world." As a result of the current growth in bandwidth demand, additional capacity will be required. But it will not require new network construction; rather, the demand will be met by acti- vating currently unlit wavelengths and fiber pairs, finally bringing lit supply and demand into balance. Tremendous growth is also occurring in the wireless realm. Wireless capacity is increasing, the per-minute network costs are falling, and data is accounting for more and more of the wireless traffic. Wireless is expected to become the dominant form of Internet communication by the end of the decade. High-speed wireless communications will be the prevailing approach to Web access and between com- ponents as well. When this happens, the "anytime, anywhere" inflection point will move the e-commerce platform of choice f