|
North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Provider credibility - does it matter? was Re: Inter-provider
> > Now, the traffic between Small ISPs #1 and #2 is close to non-existent; > > so they simply dump 99.9% of traffic to the Big ISP at exchange points and > > do transit over a cheap low-bandwidth line they buy from the same > > or other Big ISP. > > > That's particularly true because most small ISPs do not provide any > > popular content, so customers of big ISPs have little reason to worry > > about unreacheability of small ISPs . DataXchange is one of the "small" ISPs that Sprint will not peer with. It may interest you to know that about 40% of our traffic is out bound. Most of our customers offer both access and content. I do not think this is about content, interesting destinations, or any such thing. Technical arguments to the contrary, which tend to distract us from the real issues and make the new peering rules look more respectible, this is about power, and using it to one's advantage. The large networks figure the smaller networks can be forced into purchasing connections to them. This is the same technique used by any monopoly, or in this case oligarchy, to exploit their larger size. I except that "reseller" sur-charges will be one of several techniques used to try to squeeze the smaller competition. The smaller networks have only three choices: to accept the competitive disadvantages as they exist now and in the future (my guess is the screws with continue to be tightened as time passes), to join together to create a large enough group that collective action is possible (unlikely given the rancor between providers that appears to exist), or to fight thru legislative or legal means. I am not really optimistic that the balance of power will shift anytime soon. About the only hope is that the big guys will realize that continued use of monopolistic practices may result in legal or legislative action they would perfer less than managing peering session with us unexperienced, routing-flapping, wannbe's. Best Regards, Robert Laughlin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DataXchange sales: 800-863-1550 http://www.dx.net Network Operations Center: 703-903-7412 -or- 888-903-7412 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|