Optical Illusions: Content Providers and the Impending Transformation of International Transport

In just the past four years, large content providers such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have directly invested in 14 submarine cables The market's largest ban …

In just the past four years, large content providers such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have directly invested in 14 submarine cables The market’s largest bandwidth buyers have now become some of the industry’s largest owners. New undersea cable operators looking to share the burden of investment have welcomed this development as an unforeseen boon: content provider money has injected over $1 billion in international transport, and their bandwidth requirements have helped prop up demand at a time when traffic growth has otherwise begun to lag. But what does it mean for our industry when so much critical infrastructure is controlled by so few companies?

This presentation will examine which benefits brought by content providers are real, and which are illusory. Drawing on recently completed primary research, the presentation will review the state of international transport supply and demand. The presentation will conclude by examining how content provider investment might affect prices.