From Aidan Hancock
Mark Buchanan makes some interesting points in the article “Know thy neighbour”, but the conclusions are somewhat simplistic with respect to computer networks, specifically the internet (17 January, p 32). The suggestion is that upgrading critical network links to higher speeds may boost the carrying capacity of the entire internet. But this would only affect traffic needing to traverse the particular geographic regions affected by the link. It would make no difference to the internet as a whole.
Raw bandwidth is relatively plentiful. Networks are already managed at a more sophisticated level. “Traffic engineering” provides specifically for services like video: network operators constantly monitor usage patterns and modify the way traffic uses the “pipes” to ensure bandwidth is available to applications that need it.
The real difficulties lie in getting network operators to agree to honour each other’s policies on, for example, the priority given to different packets of data; and the largely unpredictable nature of much end-user demand. These are social rather than technical factors that are hard to account for.
London, UK
