Access networks will look for new peering terms, says report

New business models are likely to emerge for over-the-top content and ISP peering as local access operators seek better terms from content providers for the delivery of content over their networks, according to a report by Informa Telecoms & Media. 

According to Informa’s Internet Innovation: Navigating the Future of Online Content Delivery, local access operators will increasingly seek to question or revise peering arrangements with large content providers and CDNs, with some operators calling for volume-based wholesale charges for traffic sent by content providers to local access networks.

“The next 5-10 years will see the emergence of multiple commercial and technological arrangements for managing relationships between local-access operators and content providers/CDNs. Only in some cases will this involve some form of paid settlement, however,” said the report.

While some large content providers including Google have opposed the idea of paying for last mile access, other content providers could be willing to pay to have their traffic prioritised, said the report.

Informa’s Global Internet Services and Traffic forecast predicts that video will account for 86% of consumer traffic by 2017, up from 75% today.

The structure of the internet is changing, according to Informa’s report, with content giants including Google, Amazon and Netflix increasingly building out their own network infrastructure and establishing direct peering arrangements with last mile network operators including cable companies in order to reduce transit costs.