[LINK] Australian ISP Peering

[Geoff Huston]

On 17/03/2009, at 11:04 PM, Tom Koltai wrote:
>
> My question is this -
>
> With the proviso that the target was a level playing field with zero
> settlement for local data exchange
>
> Ie: all Suydney ISP's peer for free with all Sydney ISP's
> All Perth with all Perth
> Intercity Transit is NOT included
> Overseas Transit is NOT included.
>
> What rationale could Telstra possibly have in not adhering to a truly
> open MLPA Multi Lateral Peering Agreement with all comers.

I ceased employment with Telstra some years ago. I would not pretend  
to speak for them in any way and I am sure that they would not have me  
do so!

That said, my _personal speculation_ is that Telstra would not  
undertake measures that it perceives are not in its commercial  
interests.  Like any private corporate entity Telstra is bound to  
operate in the interests of its shareholders and that equates to  
operating along principles of maximizing beneficial outcomes to its  
shareholders, If you would rather Telstra adopted a different position  
then I would speculate that it would be incumbent on you to challenge  
this assumption and convince them as to how its commercial interests  
would be improved by a change in their stance, or it would be  
incumbent on your to call in the market regulators and make the case  
to the regulatory authorities that Telstra's actions fall foul of the  
relevant regulatory conditions.


> Surely the
> five year old Unwired Experiment has proven that the BLPA (Bilateral
> Peering) agreements that Tesltra offer at a price are more expensive
> than bandwidth to the USA. (This is not only extraordinary, but  
> possibly
> could even be considered extortionistically opportunistic designed to
> sell E1's across the pond.)
>

You seem to be illustrating the position that corporate entities tend  
to behave in a manner that is consistent with maximizing the  
beneficial outcome of their commercial interests. And a common  
characteristic of very large corporate interests is that they tend to  
have commercial interests in many activities simultaneously.


> Not withstanding your comments about stability and infrastructure -  
> lets
> discount the AUIX/SAIX/WAIX/VIX models and use Pipe Networks as our
> example....
>
> If everyone in Australia was available via Pipe Networks..... (Stable,
> secure infrastructure) - what possible motive could Telstra have in  
> not
> peering at a local level with everyone - apart from actively ensuring
> that local E-commerce is at a disadvantage.

If "everyone was available..." then surely this would imply that the  
market share of any other entity would be zero

I personaly think your initial premise is somewhat flawed here in this  
hypothetical situation.

>
> And do you expect that policy to change overnight once PPC-1 is
> connected later this year ?

I ceased employment with Telstra some years ago. I would not pretend  
to speak for them in any way and I am sure that they would not have me  
do so!


regards,

    Geoff