The Internet Is Changing: How AI Is Reshaping Traffic Flows, Routing Economics, and Network Architecture (2022–2025)

 

Abstract

The structure of the internet is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)–mediated information retrieval. Traditional web navigation—search, click, and browse—is rapidly being replaced by direct AI-generated responses. Between 2022 and 2025, global web referral patterns have shifted markedly, resulting in measurable declines in organic traffic to content providers such as Wikipedia, and changing the fundamental economics of internet routing, traffic distribution, and network infrastructure design. This paper examines current data and research to characterize this transition, evaluates its impact on routing and interconnection models, and outlines the technical and institutional responses by router OEMs, cloud orchestrators, and internet governance bodies.

1. The Decline of the Search–Click–Browse Model

Recent web analytics confirm the erosion of the traditional search-driven browsing paradigm. According to DataReportal (2025), monthly Wikipedia visits declined by 18% between March 2022 and March 2025—approximately 200 million fewer visitors—with Semrush reporting a reduction in daily visits from 263 million to 226 million. In April 2025 alone, SimilarWeb measured a further 8.5% fall in organic search referrals.

These losses mirror a structural change in search behavior. Google’s AI Overviews, launched broadly in 2024, now appear in 13–14% of all queries (Semrush 2025). When an AI summary is shown, Ahrefs data reveal that the top organic result’s click-through rate (CTR) drops by roughly 33%, and the overall CTR for the first link has fallen from 28% to 19% (Search Engine Journal 2025). Bain & Company estimates that “zero-click” AI results have reduced organic traffic for many publishers by 15–25%.

The shift is not limited to search engines. Conversational assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity.ai) increasingly intercept user intent and return synthesized answers without generating page impressions, disintermediating the web’s hyperlink economy.

2. Implications for Internet Routing and Traffic Patterns

From a network topology perspective, this evolution alters both traffic concentration and routing economics.

(a) Centralization around AI inferencing and aggregation hubs.

As users increasingly query AI systems hosted by hyperscalers (Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft), outbound traffic from access ISPs consolidates toward a few large AI inference clusters. These clusters behave as super-destinations in Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing tables, concentrating global request flows through a small set of Autonomous Systems (ASNs). This consolidation strengthens the bargaining power of hyperscalers in peering arrangements and reduces the relative transit volume toward legacy web content providers.

(b) Enterprise workflow transformation: From 3-tier to MCP–LLM–API architecture.

Enterprise content discovery is shifting from browser-based applications to Model Context Protocol (MCP)–driven agents that query LLMs, invoke APIs, and retrieve content semantically rather than via HTTP browsing. This workflow transition redistributes traffic: latency-sensitive inference requests traverse edge nodes, while training and vector synchronization move large datasets toward centralized data centers. The resulting pattern inverts the legacy client-server hierarchy, producing edge-heavy east-west inference traffic and core-intensive north-south training flows.

3. Infrastructure and Industry Response

Router and switch OEMs.

Vendors such as Cisco, Juniper, and Arista have accelerated investment in AI-optimized routing fabrics. Cisco’s Silicon One and Juniper’s Express 5 chips integrate 800 G and 1.6 T interfaces with enhanced telemetry for AI workload visibility. Arista’s 7800R3 series and EOS CloudVision AI provide real-time congestion analytics aligned with distributed inference fabrics. The emphasis is on deterministic latency, adaptive flow scheduling, and energy efficiency to support continuous LLM inference at the edge.

Cloud network orchestrators.

Cloud providers are redesigning network overlays to serve AI traffic classes. AWS introduced AI-optimized Local Zones and Elastic Fabric Adapter v2, while Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Interconnect (CCI) enables direct high-bandwidth paths to AI endpoints. Microsoft Azure’s AI Backbone merges InfiniBand, Ethernet, and optical routing to link edge inference nodes with central training clusters, effectively unifying routing domains across GPU fabrics.

Standards and governance institutions.

The IETF has initiated drafts in the Adaptive Routing for AI Workloads (ARAW) and LLM Service Discovery (LLMSD) working groups to standardize telemetry and resource-advertisement protocols for AI services. ARIN and APNIC have issued policy consultations on IPv6 address allocation for GPU clusters and data-center edge nodes, acknowledging the spatial expansion of AI edge presence. Both RIRs emphasize traceability and energy-reporting compliance. These developments signal a convergence between internet governance and AI infrastructure regulation.

4. Outlook

The redirection of user behavior—from browsing to prompting—marks the first large-scale semantic re-routing of the internet. Peering and transit revenues will increasingly depend on AI query aggregation rather than web hosting, while content distribution shifts from HTML to API-delivered knowledge graphs. The emerging network will blend data-centric routing, MCP-based context propagation, and telemetry-driven orchestration, redefining both economic and technical foundations of the global internet.

Over the next three years, network operators and policymakers must adapt BGP peering economics, inter-domain QoS, and energy-aware routing standards to accommodate AI’s bidirectional traffic asymmetry—lightweight queries at the edge, heavy model updates at the core.

References

• DataReportal (2025). Digital 2025 Global Overview Report.
• Semrush (2025). Global Search Insights: Impact of AI Overviews on CTR.
• SimilarWeb (2025). Traffic to Wikipedia, Q1 2025.
• Ahrefs (2025). Zero-Click Search Analysis.
• Bain & Company (2025). Digital Monetization in the Age of AI Search.
• Search Engine Journal (2025). CTR Decline under AI Overviews.
• Cisco, Juniper, Arista (2024–2025). Product Technical Briefs.
• IETF ARAW & LLMSD Drafts (2025). Adaptive Routing for AI Workloads.
• ARIN & APNIC (2025). Policy Consultation Papers on AI Data Center Addressing.

The Matter Protocol - A New Perspective in Smart Home and Office Automation

: The Matter Protocol – Driving Efficiency in Smart Home and Office Automation 

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### **Abstract**  

The Matter protocol, developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), is revolutionizing smart home and office ecosystems by unifying connectivity standards across devices, brands, and ecosystems. This white paper explores how Matter streamlines interoperability, reduces complexity, and enhances energy efficiency, security, and scalability in residential and commercial environments.  

---

### **1. Introduction to the Matter Protocol**  

Matter (formerly Project CHIP) is an open-source, IP-based connectivity standard designed to unify smart devices under a single protocol. Key features include:  

- **Cross-platform compatibility**: Works with Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and others.  

- **Unified connectivity**: Supports Wi-Fi, Thread (low-power mesh), and Ethernet.  

- **Simplified setup**: QR code/NFC-based provisioning.  

- **Built-in security**: End-to-end encryption and secure device authentication.  

As of Matter 1.3 (2024), the protocol supports 20+ device types, including thermostats, lights, locks, sensors, and energy management systems.  

---

### **2. Efficiencies in Smart Home Management**  

#### **a) Interoperability & Reduced Fragmentation**  

- **Problem**: Pre-Matter, users juggled multiple hubs and apps (e.g., Zigbee vs. Z-Wave).  

- **Matter Solution**:  

  - Single protocol for all devices, eliminating siloed ecosystems.  

  - Example: A Matter-certified Philips light bulb works seamlessly with Apple Home and Google Nest Hub.  

#### **b) Energy Efficiency**  

- **Smart Energy Management**:  

  - Matter-enabled devices (e.g., thermostats, plugs) integrate with renewable energy systems and grid signals.  

  - Example: Lights and HVAC systems auto-adopt energy-saving modes during peak pricing.  

- **Low-Power Devices**: Thread protocol reduces energy consumption by up to 75% compared to Wi-Fi.  

#### **c) Enhanced Security**  

- **Zero Trust Architecture**: Mandatory encryption and authentication prevent unauthorized access.  

- **Unified Updates**: Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates for all devices via a single interface.  

#### **d) Simplified User Experience**  

- QR code setup reduces installation time by 50%.  

- Voice assistants (e.g., Siri, Alexa) control Matter devices without custom skills.  

---

### **3. Efficiencies in Office Management**  

#### **a) Scalable Building Automation**  

- **Centralized Control**: Matter integrates with building management systems (BMS) to monitor HVAC, lighting, and security.  

- **Example**: Office lights and blinds adjust based on occupancy sensors and daylight levels.  

#### **b) Cost Savings**  

- **Predictive Maintenance**: Matter sensors detect equipment anomalies (e.g., HVAC faults) early.  

- **Energy Optimization**: Smart plugs and meters reduce office energy waste by 20–30%.  

#### **c) Hybrid Work Support**  

- **Hot Desk Management**: Matter-enabled occupancy sensors guide employees to available desks via apps.  

- **Air Quality Monitoring**: CO₂ and VOC sensors trigger ventilation systems for healthier workspaces.  

---

### **4. Case Studies**  

#### **a) Smart Home (Residential)**  

- **Scenario**: A Matter-integrated home uses solar panels, a smart thermostat, and EV charger.  

- **Efficiency Gains**:  

  - Solar energy prioritizes EV charging during off-peak hours.  

  - Lights auto-dim when rooms are unoccupied.  

#### **b) Smart Office (Commercial)**  

- **Scenario**: A Matter-powered office with 100+ devices across floors.  

- **Efficiency Gains**:  

  - Unified dashboard manages lighting, air quality, and access control.  

  - Energy costs drop 25% via automated peak-load shedding.  

---

### **5. Challenges & Considerations**  

- **Legacy System Integration**: Retrofitting non-Matter devices may require bridges.  

- **Adoption Pace**: Not all brands fully support Matter 1.3 yet.  

- **Network Reliability**: Thread border routers must be strategically placed.  

---

### **6. Future Outlook**  

- **Matter 2.0 (2025 Preview)**: Expanded support for robotics, water management, and industrial IoT.  

- **AI Integration**: Machine learning for predictive automation (e.g., “Anticipate my morning routine”).  

- **Global Sustainability**: Matter’s role in achieving net-zero buildings via EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).  

---

### **7. Conclusion**  

The Matter protocol is a cornerstone of the modern smart ecosystem, bridging gaps between devices, users, and sustainability goals. For homes, it simplifies life; for offices, it unlocks scalable, cost-effective automation. As Matter adoption grows, its impact on energy efficiency, security, and user experience will redefine IoT’s future.  

---

**Recommendations for Adoption**:  

1. Prioritize Matter-certified devices for new installations.  

2. Use Thread border routers to maximize low-power efficiency.  

Future of Internet Routing and GenAI influence

MCP or Model context protocol, has hit the headlines in the GenAI world. Essentially this is a framework providing a set of guildelines to manage and optimise the context, in a given context window, in a large language model

CSP’s, who own the CPE/Router of the enterprise broadband service, and has visibility in terms of routing and network insights/demands of the enterprise, at the ingress/egress point. Being at this vantage point, can CSP’s provide agency for the enterprise LLM, in an MCP scenario ? 

Essentially, CSP’s augmenting their service to be the MCP client, for multiple MCL server, services southbound and northbound to the enterprise network ? This will be transformative, and as enterprise IT evolves to Data/AI, will be congruent to stay resilient and relevant for the CSP. 

#GenAI

#InternetRouting 

#ModelcontextProtocol

Organizational perspective on the hybrid workspace

 

With the nations getting off ground with the Pandemic, economic revival appear to be the inevitable. Enterprises are in a cross road in resolving the work from home method which befits the organisation and employees. 

Whilst various views have appeared on WFH, the consensus is that it is favourable and consistent to meeting the company requirements and objectives, and employee freedom, within a certain framework. 

Organisational policy 

WFH from a technological context means extending the perimeter of the Company IT network from the edge of the WAN to the employee device where the remote VPN terminates. This present a new set of security challenges where we have to look at the security dynamics in the extending network, data which is in motion and presented and repurposed to the device, and, validating the identity and security of the device, persona, and location context. 

There needs a great desire to have a consistent security policy of the organisation augmented to the present policy. 

Human Capital 

The most important asset of any organisation is the human capital. Whilst working from home the work and life balance should addresses properly. We have seen Teams meetings going on till 9pm much to their chagrin. Conversely we have seen WFH as a great escape for employees. The HR policy should set the expectations of employees in WFH, in a manner that it is outcome based and measurable.

Essentially as organisation's move forward and and embark on the journey after covid, the decision on the aspect of work from home or office, or hybrid largely relies on the nature of business, the nature of employees whether blue or white collar, the employee well being and balance, and importantly the impact on the company bottom line 

This is a balance between the HR policy and IT policy of the organisation to meet the company and employee expectations 

HTML5...Disrupting the App Market

In the sidelines of Apple posting a whopping revenue in the last quarter, the technology buzz in the industry is on HTML5 technology and it's wider implications to the app market. This is indeed good news for the Service Providers, who have been relegated to dumb pipe providers, with the whole app industry being dominated by the likes of Apple and Google, consisting the development software/platform, devices/hardware, the developer audience, and the Application/store front supply chain.

Device Manufacturers (Huawei, Intel, NEC, Samsung) and Operators  (Sprint, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Vodafone, SK Telecom and Telefonica) have teamed up with the stewardship of the LinuxFoundation, to create a robust and flexible platform for application developers called Tizen Association, using HTML5 and Wholesale Application Community (WAC). This portends well for the service provider industry, in order to consolidate it's position from a bit pipe provider to a 'Value Provider' on the pipe.

HTML5, with it's rich capability in working in the context of the client-server programming paradigm, and it's possibility of exploring the device features such as UI, accelerometer, contact list etc. in a device agnostic manner, presents a huge opportunity for the service provider. Further the service provider can expose it's network assets such as network derived location, call-control/signalling, billing etc. through  server side API exposition. This bodes well for the service provider market.

Crtainly 'Code once run anywhere' mitigates the stumbling block which is present in the native app arena, where there has to be multiple development cycles for creating native apps for iPhone and Android, in enterprise mobile development - and albeit with the same look and feel as the native app.

It will be interesting to see how fast service providers adopt to this platform, from the point of view of fostering and sustaining an eco system of developers/solution providers, device manufacturers, and storefronts. Would CSP's have a staid approach and create there own 'siloed' storefronts, or will they follow an open store front participatory model.

I see this has many opportunities, provided the CSP's takes it right. For an example in mission critical systems which are interconnected over the IP network (M2M), HTML5 could be the standard to interchange data and control/policing between two end points running on diverse systems, perhaps the end points being on a global IP network.

 

Telco 2.0 Business Model as a means of Telco Operations Improvement

Telco's the world over are under increased pressure to sustain and grow the business particularly to serve the burgeoning data business brought on by the growth in mobile smart phones, and myriad other services coupled with data. This I speak of a network a decade ago was designed for voice centric and data service with low data rates such as SMS.

Suddenly the operator has to experience a Transformation of their business and operations to meet a changing expectation of the customer. Central to this transformation from the business/opportunity perspective is a business model called Telco 2.0 espoused by STL Partners UK. (The above image sourced courtesy from M/s STL Partners). The said company presents this Telco 2.0 Two sided business model as follows. (see http://www.stlpartners.com/).

The Opportunity

Fortunately telecom's companies possess a whole host of assets that could be exploited much more to support new, sustainable market growth. The key is for telcos to create open platforms that help other service providers (enterprises, SMEs and government) interact with end-users in more efficient ways than they can today.

Telco 2.0™ 'two-sided' telecoms business model

We call this the 'two-sided' telecoms business model, delivering value to and generating revenue from 3rd party service providers as well as end-users. The 'two-sided' business model has consequences for the design of existing services such as conventional voice, messaging and data/broadband products (e.g. see Voice & Messaging 2.0 "What to learn from - and how to compete with - Internet Communications Services") and also creates opportunities to create new revenues and B2B Platform Services.

Notwithstanding the need to Transformation, the greater concern for a typical Telecom company

is how best to transform, amidst a range of internal operational challenges brought on by the decadence of existence. In order to mitigate these challenges Telco's turn on to IT Enterprise Resource Management tools, and intend to make investments in IT with a view to increase operational efficiency. Too often not knowing the outcome of such investments.

Taking a cue from the above Telco 2 business model, I propose a multi faceted approach of a customer, in that the same business model can be applied inward with the customers being the internal customers/functional department of the relevant Telco.

So for instance, the Telco could host the internal ERP system as an asset/capability in this model, and maintain upstream supplier (of goods and services) relationships. This would conceptualize the whole organization function as services (eg. Planning, Finance, Procurement) and map on to the above business model. Another scenario would be the Telco obtaining Media/Advertising services from prospective agents using a hosted CMS tool. The one-to-one functional relationship between departments (eg. Planning and Finance) will be based on this model.

This would meet the operational expectations of the Telco, and would provide a basis to scale up on demand with the growth of the customers/networks. With the appropriate security measures and optimization of the resources, the Telco could market these services to downstream enterprise and SMB customers. By this also the Telco is de-risking his internal IT investments.

Android beyond the phone….

Google shows some startling statistics that there are around 550,000 android based activations per day, and 250,000 apps in the Google Market (this figure does not include third party application stores). The emergence of the android OS among a myriad of devices has enable android to have a 36% market share in the Smartphone market. Despite the fragmentation issues which the OS pose among diverse hardware, and, the user interface being not as consistent in look and feel as the Apple iOS, a profound adoption of the android based devices is evident. However the story does not end there…

The Android OS has transcended from the Smartphone, tablet device, to be adapted to the STB (Set Top Box) market, primarily for Interactive TV and Video services. The key proposition in this is the Android architecture framework.

Android is a software platform, rather than an OS. This helps exploit the potential for deployment across a much wider range of device. The Application framework in Android presents high level services to the application in the form of Java classes. Through the combination of layers and the enabling environment for software reuse, Android goes beyond standard Linux in the provisioning of everything needed in an integrated manner. Furthermore Android Webkit2 UI library is ported across many platforms such as Symbian OS, GTK, Qt, iOS and also embraced by several media SOC manufacturers such as Sigma Designs.

The only aspect lying between the Android capability and the Set Top Box, is the market requirement, and specifically between the “lean-forward” and “lean-back” market. Whilst “lean-back” viewing such as TV viewing at home presents an overwhelming requirement to watch TV and VoD rather than interactive services such as Facebook, Twitter and other apps etc., the “lean-forward” viewing such as OTT,PC-TV presents a good opportunity to provide an admixture of content and applications much akin to what is available in the appstores. Obviously these markets present different challenges to IPTV manufacturers in the whole value chain from encoding, ingest, encryption to delivery, in terms of their positioning.

Notwithstanding, the Android Framework can be the common glue amongst these two markets from a middleware platform perspective, as its feature rich modular framework and consonance to work among devices and STB, will present the ideal platform for service providers.
This does not avoid the Holy Grail for service providers (1) Know your market and the product positioning (2) Holistic technology vision for addressing these market requirements

Rising up to the challenge for Telco's

Telco's the world over are faced with tough challenges in survival in the face of high competition briniging about customer churn and reducing ARPU. Case in point is the imminent acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T in the US. The downfall of T-Mobile may be due to the shift of customers from T-Mobile to Verizon due to Verizon being the second operator on iPhone. Think again - how would operators wise up to the dilemma of having (say in AT&T perspective) 130M customers with around a USD 60 blended ARPU vs Facebook having a soaring 500M customers with around USD 20 ARPU.

It is evident that mobile applications/smartphones are shoring up the demand for mobile connectivity. An app in a store typically priced at USD 2/= does not take into consideration the cost per bit accrued to the operator as a result of acquiring and delivering the content from network to the device. The splurge of data and content from apps and the evolution of the appstore model has necessitated the operator to scale the network in capacity in exponential proportions. This has also brought about the shift of the pricing models of Telco's from the 'All-you-can-eat' model to the Tiered pricing structure as evidenced recently.

What are the pointers for Telco's in the context of this trend of increased data usage.

(1) Cost per Bit - Telco's have to be conscious of the overall cost structure in serving the customers from customer acquisition -> service delivery -> operation and maintenance. Leaner processes supplanted with increased/rational automation of these processes should help in the long run, and moreover transcending to managed service offerings should also contribute to keeping the bottom line low for the Telco.

(2) Business Model agility - Telco's should move into creating business models and relationships in a dynamic manner and more importantly the internal business processes should support this robustness. This is most important as Telco's would need to have business relationship with their stakeholders such as customers, suppliers in order to form B2B or B2B2C business relationships.

(3) Service Delivery - Telco's should invest on Service Delivery Platforms, that facilitate rapid service creation from orchestration, work flow, to service on-boarding, deployment and service billing. Also central to this will be the ability for third party app development and integration of Telco capabilities such as Content (Voice/Data/Video), Signalling, Network/Information Management, Provisioning and Billing. Hooks to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter etc. would also be a nice to have.

(4) Cloud and Content Strategy - With cloud opportunity set to explode Telco's should evolve and adopt a cloud strategy looking at all dynamics such as the overall market, sevices, network, devices. The Content streategy should be tightly ingrained and manifest from the evolution of the cloud.

(5) The Network - The all IP network from the data centre -> core -> distribution/aggregation -> access should be based on guiding principles (i) Delivering customer expectation on defined QoE on services (ii) Support the roll out of wired or wireless access (iii) Should support end user device ubiquity

Apple iOS 5 - To Be or not To Be

In the backdrop of Steve Jobs introduction of the iCloud and iOS 5.0 at the WWDC 2011 conference it is interesting to see the feature set of iOS 5 in the context of the Appstore developer community and the Appstore market.

The primary features of the iOS 5 are, Notification Center, iMessage, Newsstand and Reminders.

Notification center essentially lets you see all the recent notifications pertaining to calls, sms, email all on a single interface and thereby direct access to the respective application. Also twitter messages can be invoked in any interface of the iOS and does not require you to cut and paste the content to the twitter app. Newsstand is a repository of books, papers and magazines wherein registered magazines are seamlessly and automatically downloaded to the Newstand for easy reading. Reminders can be set on tasks which are based on time, place and context and moreover location based reminders can be set using the sensory system of the phone. iMessage gives opportunity to do free messaging across iphone, ipad etc. simlar to Blackberry Mobileme service.

These are some of the 200 odd features of the iOS 5 and further illustration of the features can be seen at the Apple website http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/gallery.html

All well and good...however as I observe these features or similar type of applications are developed by the Appstore developer community. Eg. ibooks, foursquare and many other messaging and productivity apps. On the one hand Apple kindles the innovativeness by promoting the Appstore and developer eco-system, on the other Apple embeds similar features in the iOS to be in step with the market as illustrated above - thereby stifling innovation. Clearly the iOS has to be a lean and an agile framework, and more importantly Apple should attempt to promote their products and services by leveraging and promoting their best in class apps found in the Appstore. Undoubtedly the 80:20 rule should play in the Appstore market where 20% of the Apps are generating 80% of the revenue.

Google heats up the Game Market

After years of not caring, Google yanked all the console emulators from the Android Market. Never fear, however, you can find them many of them (for free even!) at the off-market Android store SlideMe.

Yongzh, the guy behind some of the most popular Android emulators around–including Nesoid, SNesoid, and GameBoid–dusted himself off after being booted from the Android Market and put his emulators up on SlideMehttp://bit.ly/ioYBg8 (source howtogeek.com).

Where 2.0

In the middle of observations that iOS4 operating system tracks the user location from the Apple iPhone and collects in a database in an unencrypted format, the Where 2.0 conference was held in the Santa Clara, USA last week, which saw giants such as Facebook, Google and LBS providers such as Foursquare, Groupon discussing there strategy in terms of location based services. www.where2conf.com

Despite the downside in privacy concerns in location based services, as enunciated above in the Apple cases (Apple eventually rebutts the claim saying there only collecting hotspot information from phones), there is a widespread traction and relevance to location based services in Smartphones. The location information and the corresponding context of the location in terms of the user preference and social and crowd sourced information surrounding the location presents a value proposition, which differentiates the smart phone from other conventional phones no matter what the access technology is (2G,3G,WiFi and LTE).

Increasingly application service providers will tap this value proposition, to create myraid services for diverse lifestyles, entertainment, productivity etc based on IP technology. I envision there will application specific smart phones having specific characteristics such as sensory, memory, etc. to address a particular need, which would go beyond the need to using the smartphone only for voice communication purposes. The smartphone would progressively be less costly to afford such solutions in the long term.

In this context the service providers thought process and business model would be interesting to see, in how they address this burgeoning market.

The advent of the Tablet PC....

Two weeks back Steve Jobs, introduced the newes iPad, termed the iPad 2. Some of the unique features in the new iPad are the front and back camera support, less weight and form factor, improved pixels density, and improved processing capability compared to the older iPad. However compared to the other tablets in the market such as Motoral Xoom the iPad 2 is still under spec in terms of processing power.

The unique selling point, in the success of the iPad story is the intuitive user interface, which is seamlessly extended from the iPhone to the iPad. This USP and the cloud based Appstore portends a great future to Apple and other similar products.

Almost a decade ago SUN microsystem was promoting its mid range unix variant servers and PC's to the market on the notion of the 'Network is the Computer'. However a decade has passed with the user device taking centre stage with Network being subservient and moulding to the requirement and necessities of the device and content which is delivered to the devices/users.

The Network Service providers delivering internet services to customers has to be conscious of the end user requirements on the one hand, and constantly re-engineering the network to the vagaries and demands these devices pose in terms of the signalling and traffic to the network, on the other. A correct judgement on the user base/applications and device planning will be mandatory for NSP's to the plan their Base station, IP-RAN, backhaul and core requirements. From an application perspective the necessary PCEF and PCRF infrastructure will also be of a high necessity as in the present context The 'Application is the Network'.

Relevance of Policy Server to Mobile Networks

The upsurge of social application on mobile phones, and proliferation of multi media services has created a strain on the mobile network to deliver these services to customers at a required quality of experience. The mobile traffic has increased exponentially and disproportianately compared to the increase in the customer base, thus requiring major investment in capacity and infrastructure (CAPEX). This has in turn eroded into service provider margins. The recent issues in AT&T who are solely delivering 3G services for iPhone customers is a case in point.

These experiences has necessitated mobile providers to rethin their network operational strategy. At central in this would be the service providers requirement to address performance management at the RAN, IP-NW, Transport and Application level. However a 3G provider who buys IP access/transport from another network would have a daunting task in achieving this. Notwithstanding this fact, the providers requirement would be to have Performance Management Systems that integrate with the above mentioned elements to ascertain whether they meet the required KPI's and feed such information to PCRF and Polcy Servers. This action would enable mitigatory steps for optimized 3G channel management, Intelligent load balancing of data traffic to determine traffic management directions/traffic offload, and offload of traffic from 3G to WiFi depending on the customer location. In my analysis Tekelec works in this space

Another important element in the context of mobile internet delivery is what is described as Mobile Internet Gateway. This device which is well integrated to the Policy Servers, enable application delivery optimization on a per App level, Ad-insertion re-purposing and traffic policing and shaping. Some of the products which are provided in this space are by ByteMobile, Openwave, Comverse and Flash Networks. These in most respects achieve the enforcement part in the PCEF functionality.

The Subscribe Data Management functionality forms an integral part in profiling services to customers/subscribers. This has relevance in looking at the attributes in service top up, service enablement, service feature management. What would typically be in this case is an LDAP repositry slaved off the IT/Billing system master, and in instances for green field operators is an HSS providing IFC service definition criterion. The SDM would integrate with the Policy Servers/PCRF to deploy the policies at the PCEF from a per subscriber perspective.

In looking at this, it appears that the dynamism in 3G traffic managementis is highly unpredicateble, and can be influenced by so many factors such as demand for certain killer apps, location and event specific situations, social and demographic conditions. Also for countries where the network is diverse a renewed operational model may need to be looked at where different networks (players) look at a certain niche of the functionality (eg. transport/access/policing and service management) on a well sounded managed service model. With the degree of virtualization at the service and network level this could be a stark reality!!!

Cloud To The Rescue...

To the readers, I recount a real life story of how cloud based applications had saved the skin of my mate in the garment industry, in beating the power cut..and making his day. This is what I mean by the power of the cloud. Enjoy reading.

"It was last sunday evening when a very important video conference was scheduled at 9 pm SL time with me, my designer in SL, and the clients in the US. My designer had finished his layout, and I was busy making the presentation on work/delivery and financial schedule in my PC. Just at around 8:45 pm there was a power cut in our woods, and after many a call was able to get to the Electricity provider call centre. Just the usual, keep your fingers crossed power will be back in no time, was the answer. It was too much of a risk in banking on the guys, and the risk of rescheduling the con-call for another day would have resulted in lost business.

Knowing that most of our apps and data are synchronized in our intranet and with a cloud provider in the US, I had a dart to the local coffee shop (coffee bean) with my laptop and iPhone. Luckily there was generator power. I got connected to the WiFi (free of course), and connected upto the company VPN. Lo and behold I was able to salvage my Sharepoint Portal and power point files and I seamlessly re-scheduled the con-call to start at 9:15pm to recover on lost time due to the power episode. The Webex was hosted in the cloud somewehere in the US.

At 9:15 pm pronto I had a call back to my VoIP client on my laptop. Since my VOIP number was configured on my laptop and iPhone, I had the option of either using the iPhone or laptop, but decided on the latter. The Webex was synched to the cloud based VOIP service provider, for voice/data archival and I was told for company compliance. So there I started my presentation with my designer, and the clients in US, on a wet and quiet Sunday evening in colombo, whilst sipping a Caffe Mocha. The only damage was the Rs. 400/= for the caffe mocha".

Google TV...Is this the next best thing to happen to TV

Google has launched "smart" TV, a service that merges surfing on the Internet with surfing TV channels. The technology company has joined forces with Sony, Intel and Logitech International. Google wants to turn televisions into giant monitors for Internet browsing so it can make more money selling ads (todayonline.com).

Google has built a consortium of key partners, i.e. Best Buy, Logitech, DISH network, Adobe, and Intel to take this concept of the Web to TV a reality, and as per DISH web site, the service with Google integration is slated this fall in the US.

The Logitech Set Top Box receiver presumably having a high degree of influence from Intel ATOM processors, Adobe and the Android OS in the way that the content is presented in an admixture of TV and Web, and further, the google search engine technology giving an interface to search and correlate content of the TV and Web, the question of how Open..Is Open? comes into mind. Where as Apples has been driven by the notion of One device (iphone,ipad), One technology (AMD,xcode,Objective-C), and one Appstore (for third party development)...Google is driven by a philosophy of opening the O/S, and API/SDK centric development environment for third party app developers. Obviously leveraging some of their own core products, such as you-tube, Google Maps, G-Mail and G-Talk etc.

From a TV perspective, how open is this ? In light of the above development the following points in my view is really relevant

(1) How open is this platform, to embrace many other STB and OEM manufacturers (where some of them may be non INTEL based) eg. Ant,Microsoft which are widely used.

(2) Can the search technology be extended at the point of content ingestion. Eg. what your Friends in FB thought about a scene in an on demand movie. Replying your comment back to your wall about the VoD.

(3) How will this influence standards such as IMS, OpenIPTVforum which are founded on voice,video and internet convergence.

(4) Can search be integrated to the MPEG4 meta-data layer.

These are few of the points which lurk in my mind...is this the next best thing to happen to TV...your guess is as good as mine.

Cloudifying everything...Telco

Cloud based computing and the 'As A Service' business models has been the buzz around the ICT industry. It is evident that IT companies are cloud basing their core products to be abreast in the trend, by taking the risk and challenges, and most importantly to be ahead in the competition and differentiating their product offering. To name a few are ; salesforce.com, broadsoft, webex, zimbra etc.

Cloud computing is defined as "A collection of IT enabled resources and capabilities that can be delivered over the Internet As A Service". So what role do Telco's play in cloud computing...

Telco's who have the first mover advantage in setting up there IP networks have invested in iDC, for their infrastructure hosting and also, upsell to customers as a hosted/co-located service for their business VPN customers. The Application Service Provider (ASP) business started from there albeit very slowly. At present the Telco is presented with Cloud/XaaS as a new business model which they could map onto there IDC infrastructure. One of the service providers who has made this move is Telstra, using the T-Suite platform to Aggregate/Deliver and Manage services to there customers using the SaaS model, which is delivered using a platform named Jamcracker. Telstra's T-Suite have the following business objectives ;

(1) Further monetize broadband investment through service differentiation

(2) Expand markets without expanding networks

(3) Expand business models for future earnings growth

SaaS is opined to be a superior business model, as the proponents argue, from cost to technology to scale. It delivers rapid time to deployment/value, Faster innovation cycles, highly scalable, reduced cost structure by leveraging a single platform..

In this competitive environment where the Telco's are faced with diminishing margins, and the the daunting task of protecting the customers in the face of high churn, is SaaS not the correct position for a Telco to be in for their core products and services.

Now let us look at the possibility of cloudifying the Telco operational process. From the perspective of an IP/NGN environment we could look at the network elements delivering the following attributes;

(1) Setting the QoE/QoS attributes pertaining to the service the customer requires

(2) Overall managing the resource requirements at the core, aggregation, access and service layer in terms of (a) Quality of Service Management (b) Number and Port management (c) Security Management (d) Signalling Management (e) Service Management

(3) Operational Support System and Billing Support System

(4) CPE management using protocols such as TR069 and DLNA

Imaging going to a web store (SaaS Marketplace) and purchasing an IPTV connection, and imagine the provisioning enablement cutting through all above four layers in order to give seamless service to the customer...and imagine the customer just needs to connect the STB/CPE to the port to seamlessly connect to the service and enjoy the service. Just as SaaS'ing the CRM/ERP this I say is SaaS'ing the Telco product offering.

What really portends well, is the ability to expose the Telco services (assuming all constraints are met), to a huger marketplace surpassing from a local presence to a global presence. This augurs well for the Telco industry. Is this is distinct possibility...

Key Challenges in a Telco environment are

(1) How to be abreast in Technology while balancing the Investment/Return on Capital Employed

(2) How to achieve operations and sevice excellence in a competitive environment

(3) And most importantly...What Business/Markets we are in....

IMS vs. Web 2.0

With adoption of NGN based soft-switch technology by service providers, in transcending from TDM to IP environment primarily due to cost-based approach, service providers are still at cross roads as to what service strategy they have to embrace. IMS technology espoused by the Telco standardisation bodies such as ETSI vs. the rapidly adopted 2.0 based technology complementing the VoIP standard as against the IMS VoIP standard. Typically the lowest cost and rapidly adaptible and market/centric service platform will win the day. But will that be the case...

This blog presents the multi faceted approach and highlights in the Telco and ICT industry on the new technology, particulary based on IMS and Web/Telco 2.0, with personal criticques and industry analysis...