The platform is where it's at. According to the Internet traffic data the power shift most notable in the online world is not towards the companies with the biggest, broadbandiest networks, or even to those players who have most directly-paying customers. The running is being made by 'big platform' players. Those who build and deploy the complex IT and networking alchemy necessary for tasks like content delivery, wholesale services, and cloud computing. Ian Scales reports.
It's not that 'big telco' is dead - just that it needs to re-think its various positions and understand the power of the platform, according to our friends over atTelco 2.0. In a recent article they outline the insights they've gained from the recent NANOG (North American Network Operator's Group) meeting where Internet traffic statistics were rolled out and conclusions drawn.
The old Google controversy - especially the row over whether the company was throwing away billions on paying for YouTube traffic - is given another going over and the upshot is that, yes, it's mostly down to peering and content delivery networks. Google is doing lots of peering - to the point where it is one of the top 10 inter-domain traffickers in its own right..
in fact it's number 3 and is now bigger than Level 3.
The point is that the big traffic carriers as recently as 2 or 3 years ago, used to be the big 'tier 1' ISPs - the big global ones who comprehensively peered with each other and thus paid no transit.
Now transit revenue, which used to generate huge amounts of cash for the tier ones, has virtually disappeared and in its place is "direct peering interconnection between content and eyeballs" say the authors.
So platforms - content delivery networks and cloud computing (data) centres especially - are driving the business.
Find out more:
read the full article from Telco 2.0.
TelecomTV will be covering the 7th Telco 2.0 Executive Brainstorm, which will be held on 4-5 November 2009 at the Guoman Tower Hotel, London. The above topic and conclusions will form an important part of the agenda there. Register here
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