Oct 23, 2024

Six Insights from Our 2024 Business Broadband Analysis

The role of business broadband in WAN architecture is evolving. It’s no longer just a backup option—many enterprises now rely on it for core connectivity.

Thanks to the rise of cloud services and SaaS applications, broadband’s flexibility and cost-effectiveness make it a strong contender against legacy services like MPLS and DIA.

We’ve collected data from 170+ countries for our Business Broadband Pricing Database, covering nearly 7,000 broadband plans that range from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

Here’s what we found:

Oct 17, 2024

Chinese vs. U.S. Network Infrastructure in Asia, From Cloud to Cables

Competition between the United States and China continues to be a hot topic.

Take The Economist, which recently published America v China: who controls Asia’s internet?

While this piece did a great job highlighting the impact of geopolitical tensions on telecom infrastructure throughout Asia, my colleague Alan Mauldin and I want to expand on this coverage by offering updated data on two important areas of the story: cloud and cables.

Oct 17, 2024

The History of U.S. Telecom Policy (in Under 60 Minutes)

TeleGeography Explains the Internet is back from summer break.

We return a little older, a little wiser, and you can bet that we've done the summer reading. To that end, we're starting this season with a classic TeleGeography Explains deep dive.

The topic? U.S. telecom law! 

Telecom is a regulated industry, and U.S. law holds complexities that impact what happens across the larger ecosystem. I have a lot to learn about telecom policy, so thankfully I'm joined in this explainer by Jeff Long, an attorney in private practice with broad experience in both the data center and telecom industry.

Oct 16, 2024

Mapping African Network Geography at AfPIF 2024 [Presentation Download]

Another year, another African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) keynote presentation for Senior Research Manager Patrick Christian.

His 2024 African Network Geography Update explored global network trends, as well as African bandwidth trends, interconnection hub trends, and end-user demand. There was a special focus on Kinshasa, where this year’s AfPIF conference was held.

What are the best-connected hubs in Africa? Where are new and planned submarine cables landing? Is intra-African bandwidth gaining traction?

Oct 10, 2024

Ethernet in the WAN

Carrier-grade Ethernet is a critical piece of today’s enterprise WAN, and carriers continue to expand their network footprints and make higher capacities available.

TeleGeography’s latest Bandwidth Price Report—drawn from our Network Pricing Database—takes a deep dive into Ethernet’s place in the WAN and analyzes recent pricing trends across geographies and capacities, focusing on Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS) and Ethernet over DWDM (EoDWDM).

Oct 8, 2024

IP Transit Price Erosion: Significant Regional Differences Remain

Trends in the IP transit market generally follow regional trends of the transport market.

And while some have suggested that price erosion may slow as a result of recent inflation and supply chain constraints (as it has in the wavelength market), we have not seen this trend make its way into the IP transit market.

Oct 2, 2024

Escaping the Matrix: AI and Submarine Cables

We are now moving from sci-fi to reality with the launch of many AI services that are poised to transform industries and reshape our daily lives.

While data centers are expanding rapidly to support AI requirements, there is less clarity on how AI might impact long-haul network infrastructure, especially submarine cables.

This is exactly what I delved into during my keynote at Submarine Networks World 2024.

Oct 1, 2024

International Internet Bandwidth to Africa Nearly Quadrupled 2020-2024

Global internet bandwidth rose by 22% in 2024, continuing its slow but steady decline over the past few years. Total international bandwidth now stands at 1,479 Tbps, representing a four-year CAGR of 25%.

Clearly, the pace of growth has been slowing recently. However, it varies across regions.

New IP Networks research tells us that Africa has once again experienced the most rapid growth of international internet bandwidth, growing at a compound annual rate of 41% between 2020 and 2024.

Sep 26, 2024

Once a Builder of the Internet, Now an Adviser to Future Builders

Sylvie LaPerrière, one of TeleGeography's esteemed partners, is a known tech leader in the digital infrastructure community.

You might specifically know of her work as a team lead for Google's subsea cable Equiano along the Western Coast of Africa. Or perhaps you know her as a renowned internet governance advocate and interconnection strategist. 

We're so glad to welcome her decades of expertise to TeleGeography's Preferred Partners program. (This network of telecom professionals is like a telecom A-team ready to apply TG data to new and unique research projects. We're thrilled to take on new opportunities with them.)

Sylvie was kind enough to speak with our team about her take on the industry, advocating for women in telecom, and setting up her own consulting shop. Read our conversation below.

Sep 24, 2024

The Man With a Golden Interconnectivity Ranking

Many locations around the world are clamoring to become the next great hub. But before we can identify successful practices to promote digital hubs, we first must decide how to measure that connectivity.

What role do submarine cables play? How about electricity and green power? And government policies ... can those even be quantified?

At Platform Global 2024, TeleGeography VP of Research Tim Stronge took to the stage to tackle these questions.