Liberty Global plc (“Liberty Global”) (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK)
has today released its latest Policy Series study, in cooperation with
Arthur D. Little, entitled ‘The Future of the Internet - Innovation and
Investment in IP interconnection’ at a seminar in Brussels, Belgium.
The internet has rapidly evolved from a static data platform to become a
streaming video platform, and is soon expected to see its next wave of
growth in machine-to-machine and any-to-any video communications. By
2030, the ‘Internet of Everything’ potentially adds trillions of euros
in value to the public and private sectors1. This latest
report in the Liberty Global Policy Series investigates the drivers of
this growth and the investment incentives in the ‘upstream’ part of
internet IP connectivity where all the autonomous networks of the world
interconnect.
According to Andrea Faggiano, Head of Strategic Advisory Services for
Competition & Regulation with Arthur D.Little and co-author of the
study: “By 2020, the majority of applications, content and services will
continue to be accessed by end-users over the current ‘best effort’
public internet. But the public internet also needs to evolve further,
which not only requires investment in capacity but increasingly requires
higher quality, security and privacy assurances to support a next
generation of internet applications, for example machine-to-machine
applications. By 2030, over 50 billion connected devices will generate
over 50% of internet traffic.”
“We all share a common interest to keep investing in the future
internet,” said Manuel Kohnstamm, Senior Vice President and Chief Policy
Officer of Liberty Global. “While Net Neutrality mainly focuses on the
‘last’ mile of the network, the quality of experience for users of
high-end applications also depends on investments and commercial
agreements in the ‘first’ and ‘middle’ miles of the internet2.”
Mr. Kohnstamm added: “We wanted to make a fact-based contribution to the
debate. IP interconnection has long been a complex and very informal
economy, including barter trade, handshake agreements and joint
investments. The more we know about how that economy really works, the
more informed the decisions are regarding the investments, competition
and innovation driving Europe’s economic growth.”
IP interconnection remains vital, dynamic and competitive
The study shows that the internet remains vital, dynamic and
competitive, driven by a sector that is in transition. Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and Content & Application Providers (CAPs) are
constantly innovating the way they interconnect. Existing IP
interconnection agreements such as transit and peering are seeing a
significant increase in and growing imbalance of IP traffic as the
result of streaming video. Most of the industry is adapting flexibly to
new business models. For example, disputes concern less than 1% of all
interconnection agreements. New interconnection agreements (e.g. paid
peering, deep caching) are implemented to support the trend of storing
popular content close to the access networks. Global CAPs invest in
proprietary Content Delivery Network (CDN) infrastructures (server
parks). Commercial CDN services have become affordable to small CAPs as
interconnection costs are strongly falling, up to 30% per year. Combined
with the very competitive market for last mile broadband internet
services in Europe, this market seems well positioned for growth,
investment and innovation.
The full report can be downloaded at http://www.libertyglobal.com/ir-public-policy.html
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the largest international cable company with
operations in 14 countries. We connect people to the digital world and
enable them to discover and experience its endless possibilities. Our
market-leading triple-play services are provided through next-generation
networks and innovative technology platforms that connected 24 million
customers subscribing to 49 million television, broadband internet and
telephony services at June 30, 2014.
Liberty Global's consumer brands include Virgin Media, UPC, Unitymedia,
Kabel BW, Telenet and VTR. Our operations also include Liberty Global
Business Services, our commercial division and Liberty Global Ventures,
our investment fund. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com
or contact:
Investor Relations:
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Corporate Communications:
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Marcus Smith
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+44 20.7190.6374
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Oskar Nooij
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Bert Holtkamp
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John Rea
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Hanne Wolf
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About Arthur D. Little
As the world’s first consultancy, Arthur D. Little has been at the
forefront of innovation for more than 125 years. We are acknowledged as
a thought leader in linking strategy, technology and innovation. Our
consultants consistently develop enduring next generation solutions to
master our clients’ business complexity and to deliver sustainable
results suited to the economic reality of each of our clients.
Arthur D. Little has offices in the most important business cities
around the world. We are proud to serve many of the Fortune 500
companies globally, in addition to other leading firms and public sector
organizations.
For further information please visit www.adl.com
1 Cisco estimates
2 The internet can be broken down into two parts. The first
part is the internet access network (fixed or mobile), or so-called
“last mile”, owned or operated by ISPs over which end-users access the
internet. This part is the subject of “net neutrality” discussions. The
second part is the so-called “up-stream” side of the internet. This is
where the internet access networks connect with (i) each other, (ii)
bulk IP traffic transportation networks and undersea cables connecting
continents and (iii) content & application server parks located across
the globe.
Copyright Business Wire 2014