Cost of transit and options in APAC

Wed Aug 11 22:41:16 UTC 2010

On 11 Aug 10, at 5:15 PM, Joel Jaeggli wrote:

>> Obviously I can't speak for the providers in question, but I'd guess
>> that the cost for transit in AP is strongly related to the cost of
>> long-haul transport.
> 
> Start with something that can be effectively isolated from the
> transpacific path.
> 
> Gotten a quote for a 1Gbe or 10Gbe between two cities in India recently?

That could be useful.  Sadly, I have no first-hand knowledge of these costs.  How does in-country transport compare to trans-Pacific transport cost? (i.e. on a per Mbps per kilometer or similar metric)  I assume it's cheaper in-country / in-region compared to trans-oceanic.  Is this true?

Once that's known, I'd also look at the opposite: excluding any last-mile transport costs, what is the price per Mbps for transit service?  That transit price has to accommodate both the local/in-region transport as well as trans-oceanic transport costs borne by the provider. If the locale of traffic is shifting, then the provider's transport costs are also shifting from one category to another.

My advice to anybody looking to buy AP regional transit, assuming that trans-oceanic bandwidth is more expensive than regional bandwidth, is to negotiate a lower price in exchange for only in-region routes.  If my assumption about bandwidth costs is backwards, then you're out of luck.  (Maybe we need lower taxes, higher bribes, or more competition..?)

Cheers,
-Benson