Regulators often think of "gatekeeper" power as an "access provider" issue. But some app providers arguably also share gatekeeper power within the internet ecosystem. If consumer protection and innovation are issues regulators can shape and affect, some might argue all the sources of potential gatekeeper power have to be addressed. At least, that is what Hal Singer argues.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Who are the Gatekeepers in the Internet Ecosystem?
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
East-West or North-South?
East-west and north-south are terms with specific meaning in the data center business. East-West means traffic that moves between servers in a single data center. North-south means traffic that moves between a data center and other locations.
But the terms also are important in a traditional geographic sense. Most global traffic flows--geographically--east and west, although a growing volume of traffic also flows north-south. That is the sense in which executives at FP Telecom describe their business.
FP Telecom's primary business is long haul transport between North America and South America.
But the terms also are important in a traditional geographic sense. Most global traffic flows--geographically--east and west, although a growing volume of traffic also flows north-south. That is the sense in which executives at FP Telecom describe their business.
FP Telecom's primary business is long haul transport between North America and South America.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Hyperscale Data Centers Now Originate, Terminate Most Global Traffic
Among many other changes to the global telecom business caused by a shift to internet, mobile and cloud communications, global bandwidth patterns have changed. In the past, long haul traffic was originated and terminated at central offices. As the internet become dominant, long-haul traffic began to originate and terminate at internet exchange points and other internet points of presence.
Now, with the dominance of mobile-consumed content and apps, generally cloud-based, traffic originates and terminates heavily at hyperscale data centers.
Asia-Pacific has been the fastest growing region in terms of hyperscale data center location and will continue to grow more rapidly over the next five years, although North America will still account for 43 percent of hyperscale data centers by the end of 2020, says Cisco.
Annual global cloud IP traffic will reach 14.1 ZB (1.2 ZB per month) by the end of 2020, up from 3.9 ZB per year (321 EB per month) in 2015, Cisco predicts, nearly quadrupling (3.7-fold) over the next five years.
Overall, cloud IP traffic will grow at a CAGR of 30 percent from 2015 to 2020. On a global basis, cloud IP traffic will account for more than 92 percent of total data center traffic by 2020.
Hyperscale cloud operators are defined by Cisco as entities representing more than US$1 billion in annual revenue from infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), or infrastructure hosting services (for example, Amazon/AWS, Rackspace, Google); more than US$2 billion in annual revenue from software as a service (SaaS) (for example, Salesforce, ADP, Google); or more than US$4 billion in annual revenue from Internet, search, and social networking (for example, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple); or more than US$8 billion in annual revenue from e-commerce and payment processing (for example, Amazon, Alibaba, eBay).
Hyperscale data centers will grow from 259 in number at the end of 2015 to 485 by 2020, according to Cisco, representing 47 percent of all installed data center servers by 2020.
Hyperscale data centers also represent a large portion of overall data, traffic, and processing power in data centers, accounting for 34 percent of total traffic within all data centers and driving 53 percent of in-data-center traffic by 2020.
Hyperscale data centers will also represent 57 percent of all data stored in data centers and 68 percent of total data center processing power.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
T-Mobile Announces HD Video Streaming on Unlimited Plan
T-Mobile announced the addition of high-definition quality (HD) video and 10 GB of T-Mobile hotspot access, at no extra charge, with monthly taxes and fees included, for T-Mobile US customers on “T-Mobile One” customers, T-Mobile US says.
T-Mobile US also introduced a new offer of two lines on T-Mobile ONE for $100 a month.
The upgrades are available starting February 17, at no extra charge for customers on “T-Mobile One” service plans. Customers can simply activate their new features in the T-Mobile app or at my.t-mobile.com.
Previously, T-Mobile US had been offering unlimited video streaming--without usage charges on the customer’s mobile data plan--at standard definition. The latest move bumps up image quality, and also bandwidth consumption per minute of use.
Customers will get HD quality video streaming and up to 10GB of high-speed Mobile Hotspot data per month, so they can ‘tether’ a laptop or other device to access the Internet. And, after the included 10GB of high-speed data, customers still get unlimited 3G data through the end of the month.
As the latest move by T-Mobile US shows, unlimited data plans might have disruptive consequences.
Now that all four leading U.S. mobile service providers now offer some form of unlimited usage plan, consumer behavior and service provider behavior become crucial. Will consumer usage increase, and by how much, where and when? Will service providers keep the unlimited offers prominent in their marketing efforts?
If mobile network usage profiles change, how will that affect quality of experience on the various networks? And what will mobile service providers have to do to maintain quality in the face of increased network demand? How much can they do, near term?
In other words, will network congestion suddenly become a much-bigger issue?
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Margin Compression Remains a Key Issue in Telecom
Margin compression is a reality of the global telecom business, and has been since voice revenues peaked in the United States either 2000 or 2001, and peaked globally a few years after that. For a time, the logical supplier response is to try and sell more units at lower prices. That can last only so long, however.
Text messaging has seen the same trend. Volume might be up. In some cases revenue is up. But profit margins are compressing.
Internet access bandwidth consumption likewise has followed a similar trend. Bandwidth prices on undersea routes continue to fall.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
AT&T Now Sells Gigabit Connections in 51 Metro Markets
By the end of February 2017, AT&T will have gigabit internet access services available in portions 51 major areas, including new service in Columbia, South Carolina; Jackson, Miss; Knoxville, Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wisc. and Shreveport, La.
AT&T says it presently is marketing gigabit connections to nearly 4 million customer locations, including more than 650,000 locations that are apartments and condo units.
By mid-2019 AT&T plans to reach at least 12.5 million locations across 67 metro areas with its fiber-to-home network.
With Comcast also rolling out gigabit access across its entire footprint, one might argue Google Fiber had its intended effect, namely spurring the major internet access providers to dramatically boost investment in access speeds.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
What Happens to User Experience in Wake of Big Move to Unlimited Usage?
Now that all four leading U.S. mobile service providers now offer some form of unlimited usage plan, consumer behavior and service provider behavior become crucial. Will consumer usage increase, and by how much, where and when? Will service providers keep the unlimited offers prominent in their marketing efforts?
If mobile network usage profiles change, how will that affect quality of experience on the various networks? And what will mobile service providers have to do to maintain quality in the face of increased network demand? How much can they do, near term?
In other words, will network congestion suddenly become a much-bigger issue?
Though the rankings will change after the final results of the 600-MHz auction are concluded, mobile spectrum holdings might start to matter in the U.S. market, as all of the four biggest mobile service providers offer unlimited usage. Since that tends to increase consumer consumption, mobile operators, consumers and investors will be watching not only revenue and profit trends, but potential new stress on networks, in terms of quality.
Before the additional 600-MHz spectrum to be added, U.S. mobile service providers had about 650 MHz of licensed capacity.
Eventually, those figures will be vastly eclipsed by all the new spectrum to be made available, plus spectrum sharing and offload. Millimeter wave spectrum will eventually have a big role. In the near term, only offload is going to help in the near term, and even that help could be limited if consumers start relying on the mobile network more heavily in the wake of the unlimited plans.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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