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As more Internet users become content creators, not just consumers, ISPs are wrestling with how — and when — to make their upstream pipes fatter.

Upstream bandwidth use is on the rise, with some vendors reporting a 24 percent increase in traffic from 2007 to 2008. But does that increase mean more people are contributing content to the web, or that the few who do contribute use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth? While ISPs are addressing the latter scenario with restrictions and caps, I'm inclined to believe this is a widespread movement of people putting their lives online. That means ISPs are going to have to start pushing the limits on upstream speeds and capacity — or see customers change service providers (if they can). So, which carriers can keep adding upstream bandwidth to serve consumer demand? And what services will help drive that demand?