As Did Entertainment Video, Metaverse Will Shape Access Networks

Assuming the metaverse becomes the "next big thing," it will have ramifications for many parts of the internet ecosystem beyond the application providers. Devices, semicondutor and chip, edge computing and cloud computing as well as access networks will be shaped by application requirements.

As always, the concern connectivity providers can expect to have to supply more bandwidth, upstream and downstream, with better latency performance, with only slight increases in access revenue from consumer customers.

So the logical question will be whether those investments produce incremental revenue, and if so, how?

Hyperscale app providers always have different perceptions about access networks than do connectivity service providers, for obvious reasons. For hyperscalers, quality internet access is a requirement for their businesses. For connectivity providers, access is the business. 

So hyperscalers want access to be abundant and cheap. Connectivity providers want widespread access--but not so much “universal access at any price.”

Hyperscalers benefit from widespread quality internet access with unlimited usage. Access providers want reasonable retail prices and quality levels that match what consumers are willing to pay. 

At a high level, the business issue for access providers is demand that grows up to 50 percent per year, but consumer willingness to pay that changes less than one percent a year. 

source: GSMA 

As the rise of internet-delivered video entertainment content and advertising has reshaped  global bandwidth demand, so might the metaverse, at scale, reshape demand even further, as it requires support for low latency application and network performance; lots of computing support and diverse content inputs. 

source: NCTA  

Of course, lots of infrastructure will have to change, including ever-improving graphics processing units (GPUs), photorealistic 3D engines, faster content generation through volumetric video and artificial intelligence, edge computing, access networks and blockchain infrastructure.

It remains to be seen how important edge computing is, relative to xG mobile network, Wi-Fi and fixed network performance; devices or other parts of the supporting infrastructure.