Open Internet Networks

In open Internet networks, no carrier, service provider, or content provider has a monopoly on delivering services and applications. [1]

Example: municipal open access networks

Discussion

The smarter Telco's understand the benefits of open networks

Bill St. Arnaud [2]:

"Swedish telco Telia came to the same conclusion that municipal open access networks may not be such a bad thing. Telia used to be a vociferous opponent of municipal open networks. But over time, many municipal networks are discovering that they don’t have the necessary skills and financing to manage an open network. Many municipal networks in Sweden have issued calls for proposals from third parties to operate their open access networks. Guess who won most of these deals? As part of the winning contract, the municipalities require Telia to operate these networks on an open access basis, much like Reggefiber in the Netherlands. But this turns out to be no more onerous than operating a regulated network in the good old days of being a monopoly. Telia is recognizing that municipal open access Internet networks are a really good thing -- someone else pays for the deployment of the fiber infrastructure and Telia ends up managing and operating the network.

What’s even more surprising is that some telcos are also starting to realize that peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, and other nefarious applications, are actually good services that should be encouraged by their customers rather than penalized. Currently, most telcos treat P2P users as costly parasites on their networks, because only a small number of users consume most of the bandwidth. Their knee-jerk response has been to block such traffic with Layer 7 filters from companies like Sandvine Inc. or, in extreme cases, to disconnect these power users entirely. More advanced telcos are starting to deploy technologies from a number of P2P companies, such as BitTorrent Inc. and Joost , which enhance P2P traffic experience for their customers rather than try to block it. By distributing super node servers throughout the network, Telcos can reduce unbalanced P2P traffic loads and provide a much better P2P experience for their customers. Increasingly, when P2P companies obtain licensing arrangements with the music and film industry, the threat of legal action and charges of abetting and aiding piracy become less of a concern.

As more telcos understand that their own survivability is at stake, the smarter ones will realize that new business models and relationships are critical to their success. The 20th century model of unregulated capitalist monopoly is not in their self interest. Although many telcos worldwide embrace the idea of unfettered regulation, the opposite is probably critical to their survival." (http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=506&doc_id=136710&)