Superhighway at the Crossroads: The Evolution of Internet Service Provision

Overview

The internet has grown rapidly from a random collection of mainly academic networks and military control and routing protocols into a global, integrated and sophisticated commercial utility. No longer simply an 'Information Superhighway', it has extended to embrace voice telephony, video and mobile communications as part of a converged network. Connection options and services have expanded, with opportunities for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to add value beyond simply forwarding bit and bytes. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities these companies face and takes a look at how their industry might evolve.