That could take the form of Web pages that take longer to load and interruptions in videos that are downloaded or streamed, said Mike Jude, a senior analyst with Nemertes. "If we don't do anything, we're going to start looking like the dying days of dial-up access," he said.

Unless more than 100 billion dollars was invested in the global internet infrastructure, a level of gridlock would develop that would make it almost impossible to use rich media sites like YouTube. The effects will make life on the internet more difficult for users.

Also it will be an obstacle in the way of the technical revolution. "The next Google, YouTube, or Amazon might not arise, not because of a lack of demand, but due to an inability to fulfil that demand," the report added.

Nemertes estimated the investment needed at 137 billion globally - double the level planned. The financial investment needed to "bridge the gap" between demand and capacity in the US alone would range from 42 billion to 55 billion dollars, or 60 per cent more than planned.

The report was part-funded by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) which campaigns for universal broadband in the US.

"We must take the necessary steps to build out network capacity or potentially face internet gridlock that could wreak havoc on internet services," said Larry Irving, co-chairman of the IIA.