Indeed, Internet has changed drastrically over the last 10 years - Telefónica

The extremist alteration of the Internet successful the past 10 years

In the cross-cutting arguments and counterarguments connected the connection for a just publication of ample postulation generators to the outgo they induce successful telecommunication networks, determination is 1 that deserves peculiar attention.  It is often mentioned that this contented was addressed much than 10 years agone and failed to summation the indispensable enactment to determination forward, and since thing has changed, it makes nary consciousness to rise it again 10 years later. The assertion that thing connected the Internet has changed successful the past 10 years is surprising.

The information is that successful the past 10 years everything has changed on the Internet: Internet’s web architecture has changed, concern models person changed, the measurement of postulation has grown exponentially, and the equilibrium betwixt the companies that marque up the Internet ecosystem person shifted.

From the archetypal internet, based connected websites, with a multitude of companies, and a balanced ecosystem betwixt producers and consumers of content, and the telecommunications operators that transport that content, the past decennary has seen the consolidation of an net dominated by a precise tiny fig of companies: the hyperscalers.  Thanks to their concern acumen and the “winner takes all” inclination successful Internet concern models, these companies person achieved a presumption of dominance successful the Internet ecosystem that by 2022 is already unquestionable and incontestable giving emergence to a structural occupation that requires a solution. This concern has led regions specified arsenic the European Union to beforehand legislative responses specified arsenic the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

If determination is nary denying this reality, each companies and authorities progressive successful the aboriginal and creaseless functioning of the integer ecosystem should see that the clip has travel to reappraisal immoderate of the rules and models that were agreed successful the aboriginal Internet era, and that nary longer acceptable the world of 2022. It is clip to laic a much coagulated instauration for the caller epoch of the Internet than the existent one, which tin lone beryllium done based connected an knowing of the Internet architecture and its evolution.

Initial Internet architecture

The Internet is simply a web of networks, made up of thousands of interconnected networks. The interconnection architecture of networks connected the Internet was initially hierarchical. There were 3 levels of networks: Tier 1 were global networks whose interconnection ensured afloat accessibility to immoderate contented oregon immoderate idiosyncratic anyplace successful the world; Tier 2 corresponded to regional networks, portion Tier 3 were the local networks to which Internet users and contented and exertion providers (CAPs) were connected. Tier 1 is what is traditionally known arsenic the Internet backbone.

In the aboriginal signifier of the Internet, exertion and contented providers and users connected to an relation that provided the Internet entree service, and which was liable for the transportation to a higher-level relation to execute transit to the planetary Internet.

As tin beryllium seen, the interconnection betwixt the antithetic networks that marque up the Internet was done utilizing 2 antithetic services. When a lower-level web connects to a higher level one, it pays for the alleged transit service. This work allows a idiosyncratic of this web to scope immoderate destination, oregon entree immoderate content, hosted connected immoderate web connected to the Internet. Networks astatine the aforesaid level could besides interconnect straight utilizing a alleged peering agreement. By straight interconnecting 2 networks, the usage of transit work is avoided. This work gave nonstop entree to the users and contented of the 2 interconnecting networks but did not supply visibility of the users and contented of different networks.

On a commercialized level, successful transit agreements the “downstream” web paid the “upstream” web for the service. In contrast, peering agreements are based connected unregulated criteria connected the fig of users and contented providers each web has, and connected the postulation exchanged. Since the operators seeking interconnection tended to person akin web structures, the services – and the costs associated with them – provided to each different were comparable. The implicit presumption of web symmetry (especially symmetry successful entree networks) and costs led successful galore cases to escaped peering arrangements based connected the presumption that payments made to screen costs incurred connected the counterparty’s web would beryllium netted against payments received from that counterparty. The parameter of symmetry successful the speech of postulation became successful this aboriginal Internet exemplary a guiding criterion successful the dialog of peering agreements.

The flattening of the Internet architecture

The architecture of the Internet had to accommodate to the caller needs arising from the exponential maturation of video postulation (or video streaming). Several elements person been introduced implicit the years that person drastically changed the Internet architecture. On the 1 hand, video required capabilities that the basal Internet architecture could not provide. This led to the instauration of 1 element, CDNs (Content Delivery Networks), clouds specialized successful video organisation that reduced the request for accrued capableness connected higher level networks (1 and 2), and reduced latency (the clip it takes for contented to scope the extremity user), frankincense improving the idiosyncratic experience. On the different hand, arsenic the large hyperscalers grew and consolidated their level model, they started to physique their ain selective transport networks (at the astir profitable tiers) and their ain selective CDN infrastructure.

This alteration has brought a complete translation successful the method architecture of the Internet. However, the interconnection concern exemplary associated with the archetypal Internet architecture has not been capable to evolve. None of the interconnection rules that were created for the archetypal Internet person been capable to beryllium changed. Or alternatively we could accidental that the hyperscalers person not allowed these rules to change, fixed the payment they deduce from this interconnection model, and leveraging their undisputed marketplace dominance to enforce rules and conditions.

With the instauration of these elements, the Internet has evolved implicit the past 10 years into a flatter web wherever the archetypal tiers and hierarchy disappear. Those hyperscalers that person reached a presumption of dominance and capable concern standard to bash so, link straight to the networks of galore operators astatine their slightest costly tiers, bypassing the transit networks, but not arsenic users of the Internet, arsenic they did successful the archetypal stage, but arsenic “Operators” utilizing the peering agreements. The instauration of their ain infrastructure has allowed the ample hyperscalers to debar not lone paying Internet transit costs, but besides the outgo of distributing their content, frankincense gaining a competitory vantage implicit different players who bash not person a ascendant presumption and truthful cannot unit escaped peering agreements.

The architecture of the Internet has go highly centralized and babelike connected a fewer players, the large hyperscalers.

Internet Users, Telecom Operators oregon Content Providers?

The bulk of Internet transit postulation is present generated by ample hyperscalers.  In addition, the transportation of their contented to end-consumers bypasses the accepted Internet hierarchy. Today 3 of the apical 5 providers of Internet transit connectivity are hyperscalers. These companies tin scope astir networks straight without going done the Internet hierarchy.

Surely it is clip to inquire whether the Internet giants are connectivity providers under the supervision of National Regulatory Agencies and taxable to their decisions, oregon they are application and contented providers, oregon Internet users, obliged to wage for the connectivity work received. What is the relation they should play successful the Internet interconnection model?

The vantage of not paying the costs of utilizing operators’ networks

When postulation from ample hyperscalers increased, and erstwhile these companies came to aggregate astir of the Internet traffic, they created their ain backstage web to debar transit fees. They downgraded their transportation to section operators nether accepted conditions and connected to different networks by forcing escaped peering.

These companies became a “category” not initially envisaged successful the Internet interconnection model: they ceased to beryllium Internet users and became “special” web operators with neither an entree web nor a nationalist network, but with contented that gave them a intelligibly ascendant presumption successful the dialog of peering agreements.

It is indispensable to recognize that when a hyperscaler negotiates a peering agreement with a telecommunications operator, it does not bash truthful nether the aforesaid principles connected which peering agreements betwixt operators are negotiated. Providing indispensable contented and applications (because of user demand) gives them bargaining powerfulness that usually results successful escaped peering agreements. They request the vantage of not having to wage to usage the transport work for their postulation provided by operators.

This does not look to beryllium a motion of balanced bargaining powerfulness betwixt operators and ample hyperscalers. Rather, it shows the distortion of a marketplace that by not adapting to the improvement of the Internet tin lone pb to an unsustainable situation, dominated by a fewer companies that specify the rules, the conditions, and that negociate to seizure astir of the worth generated successful the integer ecosystem.

Mixing the world of networks with the world of ample hyperscalers successful the interconnection marketplace has resulted successful a distorted market. The existent explanation of the Internet interconnection marketplace is nary longer relevant, arsenic it does not see the world of the caller interconnection exemplary based connected the CDN and cloud infrastructure of the hyperscalers.

Given that this concern was ne'er envisaged successful the archetypal Internet model, it should pb america to deliberation that the clip has travel to see whether this is the close instauration for financing the concern effort faced by telecommunications operators to deploy nationalist backbones and entree networks.

The indispensable statement connected however to physique a fairer and much sustainable integer ecosystem

The statement connected the just publication of ample Internet companies is the statement connected the request to reappraisal assumptions that were agreed successful the 1990s, and that 30 years aboriginal are inactive being applied to an Internet that bears small resemblance to the Internet that was calved successful the 1990s.

It is morganatic that the companies that person been astir favored by these rules privation to clasp them adjacent successful the Web 3.0 era, but determination is simply a wide planetary statement that to guarantee a fairer and much balanced net ecosystem, these rules request to beryllium revised. Legitimate counterarguments to the claims of telecommunications operators should beryllium based connected information and facts from today’s Internet, not from an Internet that nary longer exists.