UUNet, North America's largest ISP (Internet Service Provider) has decided to limit the number of "peering arrangements" into which it will enter with other ISPs. The Internet consists of a large number of networks which agree to exchange data traffic with each other. These agreements, called "peering arrangements," provide for each ISP to accept an unlimited amount of traffic from another ISP; in return for which it can send an unlimited amount of traffic to the other ISP. The exchange of data occur at "network access points" in Atlanta, Chicago, Pennsauken, NJ, San Francisco, and Vienna, VA. No money is exchanged.
At present, to qualify as a UUNet Peer, an ISP must operate a national network with a dedicated, diversely routed backbone of high capacity which can connect to UUNet's backbone at the same speed in at least four geographically diverse locations. Only ten peering partners have been identified by UUNet. Other ISPs may connect, but they have to pay for the privilege. This cost is likely to be passed onto subscribers as most ISPs have very small margins. UUNet, on the other hand, will realize income from a new source, therefore it is in a position to reduce rates and gain even greater market share.
PSINet, another major ISP, has announced that it will not charge smaller ISPs. None of the other major ISPs had announced their positions as of press time. They apparently are waiting to see the outcome of the UtJNet and PSINet moves.
In another recent development, UUNet, Digex Inc., Exodus, FastNet, and InterNex have announced that they are now able to allocate bandwidth to customers on the basis of need. Rather than forcing a customer to pay for bandwidth levels that are higher than needed or sacrificing availability, these ISPs will adjust bandwidth on an ongoing basis. The tiered service begins at 1 Mbps, however, and therefore is of potential interest to large libraries, only.
