Although the building of today's Internet has been going on for almost four decades, some researchers feel the time has come to start over. A more advanced system is needed to adequately address new issues of security, mobility and other challenges that have evolved as Web use has grown.

The Internet "works well in many situations but was designed for completely different assumptions. It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today," said Dipankar Raychaudhuri, professor at Rutgers University. Mobile devices are creating one of the biggest challenges to the system. The high number of people using mobile connections overwhelms computer processors and creates security holes.

Two possible approaches are being considered. A new network could run parallel with the current Internet and gradually replace it, or a major overhaul of today's structures could take place. The end result won't be visible for 10 or 15 years, depending on government funding. The cost to replace the software and hardware of the existing system would reach into the billions of dollars (Anick Jesdanum, "Move Afoot to Reinvent Internet," Associated Press, April 16, 2007).