The amount of IP video traffic on the Web is going to keep on increasing at an extraordinary rate. In less than four years, video (TV, video-on-demand, Internet video and peer-to-peer) could end up representing more than 90 percent of all traffic on the Web.

The impact of this growth of traffic on global networks will be significant, according to Cisco, which compiled, analyzed and published the data in one of its periodic reports on Internet traffic.

Consumers will make more frequent and longer use of multiple, simultaneous data types – they’ll be consuming more broadband resources more consistently. That will increase what Cisco is calling the digital day, as IP networks support more and more tasks and functions simultaneously from a host of networked devices (e.g., TV, PC, mobile device, et al.)

By the company’s calculation, today there are 36 hours in a network day. There will be approximately 48 hours in a network day by 2013.

Active digital multitasking, such as listening to online music while working online or Web browsing/instant messaging while talking on the phone, will add six network hours to each day, Cisco said.

Meanwhile, passive networking, such as DVR recording while watching other network programming, online storage backups conducted in the background of user experiences, or ambient video from such devices as a security or nanny-cam, will add another six network hours to each network day.

Cisco projects that global IP traffic will increase fivefold by 2013, approaching 56 exabytes per month in 2013, up from approximately 9 exabytes per month in 2008. Annual global IP traffic will reach two-thirds of a zettabyte, or 667 exabytes.

In February, the company released projections that mobile data traffic will roughly double each year from 2008 to 2013, increasing 66 times between 2008 and 2013.