Further Internet Metrics

Wed Jan 3 21:52:20 UTC 2001

  it is impossible.

  well, depending on what you are measuring, and how
  concerned you are with the accuracy.

  no accurate yardstick exists for such a comparative
  measurement.  what you want to measure (traffic, ip
  addresses, web sites, ASes advertised, capacity,
  utilization, routers, or any other single network-based
  measurement) isn't even collected, counted, recorded,
  or archived in a consistent, similar, or even correct
  manner across all of the set of entities that you
  would likely desire to compare.  ...all of which even
  assumes that you could /obtain/ that data (stats,
  routing tables, etc.) and required support from the
  set of entities that you want to compare-- which you
  couldn't.

  one could interpolate, extrapolate, estimate, and
  assume a whole lot to fill in blanks with the 
  inaccurate and incomplete data that is available
  publicly,  but it would likely result in yet another
  [perhaps well-meaning] set of inaccurate or incomplete
  marketshare studies or trade rag articles that may get
  referenced in future marketshare studies.

  the only half-way accurate way to attempt to obtain
  marketshare percentages comparatively is to look at
  revenue, or the number of actual customers by type,
  and those numbers aren't typically the type that
  network engineers care to analyze. 

  i suggest that you ask the DOJ, the FCC, or the EC,
  as I suspect that they have the most accurate 
  response to the question as has ever been compiled.

  i am, however, quite interested in your overall 
  results.

  best of luck,

 - jsb

On Tue, 2 Jan 2001, Eric Lemond wrote:
> The Internet Metrics post in December was a good starting point for my
> research on backbone traffic, but I'm struggling to get more specific
> information.  Specifically, I am trying to find out the market share for the
> major backbone providers (so far I've found WorldCom 37% and Sprint 16% of
> traffic).  Boardwatch has this breakdown, but by ISP connections (WorldCom
> 24% & Sprint 14%).  Is the percent of ISP connections a good estimate of the
> percent of traffic a backbone carries?  
> 
> Also, for the major backbones, is there any kind of breakdown of the percent
> of a backbone's traffic that is for a corporate end user vs. a personal
> dial-up or broadband account.  Specifically, does WorldCom, Sprint, C&W,
> ATT, Genuity, Level 3's traffic have a strong tendency to be for corporate
> or personal accounts?
> 
> Finally, Is there any source or estimate for the current total amount of
> Internet traffic carried by all networks?
> 
> Any information or sources would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Eric
> ----------------
> Eric Lemond
> Interdiciplinary Telecommunications Program, CU Boulder
> Intern, FastIdeas
> 