The Global Internet Peering Ecosystem
Internet Peering Ecosystem as a Collection of Internet Regions
Abstract: The Global Peering Ecosystem can be thought of as a set of interconnected Internet Regions that are each generally contained within country boundaries. Within each Internet Region we generally see a set of players that can be loosely categorized into regional Regional Tier 1 ISPs, Regional Tier 2 ISPs, and Regional Content Providers. In this document we will attempt to define these players, their position in the ecosystem, their motivations and corresponding observed behaviors.
Definition: The “Global Internet Peering Ecosystem” consists of a community of loosely connected regional ecosystems (called Internet Regions) containing operators of regional or country wide Internet services.
Definition: An Internet Region is a portion of the Internet, usually defined by geographical boundaries (country or continent borders), in which some form of Internet Peering Ecosystem is contained as shown below.
Figure 1 – Internet Players within an “Internet Region”
Each Peering Ecosystem is generally composed of three general classes of Internet players: Regional Tier 1 ISPs, Regional Tier 2 ISPs, and Regional Content Providers / Enterprise Companies. Each Player within these classes hold similar power positions within the Peering Ecosystem and therefore tend to have similar motivations and exhibit similar behaviors within the Peering Ecosystem. We will describe each of these players next.
Global Internet Peering Ecosystem v1
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