Content vs Carriage

In this episode of PING, APNIC’s Chief Scientist Geoff Huston discusses the eternal tension between content and carriage.

At the RIPE 86 meeting held in Rotterdam in May of this year, Rudolf van der Berg presented a talk titled ‘The EU Gigabit Connectivity Package and How It Will Hurt the Internet’ (video, slides).

Geoff has previously written about the tensions between content and carriage, transit and Content Distribution Networks (CDNs), and the economics of networks but this episode of PING discusses a new twist: Vodafone’s underlying cost and price issues seem at odds with the European operator community seeking to regulate the ‘cost’ side of carrying domestic content.

Read more about the economics of the Internet on the APNIC Blog:

RIPE 86 bites — Gigabits for EU (June 2023, Geoff Huston on this RIPE 86 presentation)
On centrality and fragmentation (July 2023, Geoff Huston)
The Internet as a public utility (May 2023, Geoff Huston)
An economic perspective on Internet centrality (March 2023, Geoff Huston)
Sender pays (September 2022, Geoff Huston)
Content vs carriage — who pays? (June 2022, Geoff Huston)

In this episode of PING, APNIC’s Chief Scientist Geoff Huston discusses the eternal tension between content and carriage.

At the RIPE 86 meeting held in Rotterdam in May of this year, Rudolf van der Berg presented a talk titled "The EU Gigabit Connectivity Package and How It Will Hurt the Internet"

Geoff has looked at the tensions between content and carriage, Transit and CDNs, the economics of networks for decades, and a conversation about the problems has gone on for some time now, some of which repeats here, but with a new twist: some inside information from Vodafone about their underlying cost and price issues which perhaps undermine the basis of the complaint from the European operator community to the EU seeking regulation of the "cost" side of carrying the content domestic consumers seek.

Read more about the economics of the Internet on the APNIC Blog:

RIPE 86 bites - Gigabits for EU (June 2023, Geoff Huston on this RIPE86 presentation)On Internet Centrality and Fragmentation (July 2023, Geoff Huston)The Internet as a Public Utility (May 2023, Geoff Huston)An Economic Perspective on Internet Centrality (March 2023, Geoff Huston)Sender Pays (September 2022, Geoff Huston)Content Vs Carriage: Who Pays? (June 2022, Geoff Huston)

Watch Rudolph Van Der Berg's talk at RIPE86, or read his slides (pdf)