Group Suggests an Exchange to Trade Internet Capacity

A few interesting comments on the possibility of "traffic jams" on the Internet. From the new York Times:

>>Why not an exchange for the trading of digital bits and bytes?

Mr. Touré said the database could play an essential role in helping networks manage capacity and plan new investments at a time when telecommunications traffic is surging, and when some experts are warning that the growth of voice, data and particularly video traffic threatens to create traffic jams.

Nemertes Research, based in a suburb of Chicago, has predicted that over the next three to five years, Internet users in North America could experience “brownouts” unless telecommunications operators significantly step up their infrastructure investments.

“There are a lot of megabytes sitting in a lot of places that are underutilized,” Mr. Touré said. “It would be good to have a better knowledge of this.”

Analysts said some telecommunications carriers might be reluctant to take part for fear of revealing sensitive information to competitors. Some might prefer to continue operating the way they do now, trading capacity as needed, usually with one counterparty, rather than making details about their networks available to all.