Two third of businesses in the U.S. are looking for increasing their Internet bandwidth in the next 12 months to address their business needs. The increasing bandwidth demand will test the current limits of broadband subscriptions, according to a survey by Altman Vilandrie & Company, a strategy consulting group.

The fresh demand will open several business opportunities for cable and telecom providers. The demand from U.S. businesses for faster Internet speeds and expanded bandwidth will be more in underserved urban and rural regions.

New applications and greater adoption of off-site data center services are driving the bandwidth growth. However, there are challenges for providers and policy makers to meet that need in a timely manner, according to the survey conducted among 700 businesses late last year.

“Clearly businesses are hungry for more bandwidth,” said Stefan Bewley (News - Alert), director, Altman Vilandrie & Company, in a statement. “More companies are adopting cloud or traditional off-site data center services that require high bandwidth connections between employees and the company’s data.”

“As businesses of all kinds use data and technology applications to reach new customers and streamline business operations, the demand for more bandwidth will continue to grow dramatically,” Bewley added.

Network reliability, price, customer service and technical compatibility are the four most important reasons for U.S. businesses to buy new Internet services. Bandwidth was only the fifth most important factor. However, for large enterprises, bandwidth was a more important factor.

Recently, an iSuppli report said broadband caps will make it difficult for any high-quality streaming application to become a true TV substitute without the support of wireless operators. iSuppli also said new broadband subscribers worldwide are projected to rise in 2010 by 63.5 million, up 8.4 percent compared to total net additional subscribers of 58.5 million in 2009.