The Intimate Spaces of Network Interconnection Markets

Although the global Internet is often spoken of as though it is a single technological object, it is in fact
composed of over 52,000 networks, interconnected in a complex graph of relationships. The Internet is
as much the sum of the interconnections between individual networks, as it is of the services offered by
each network: in the absence of these interconnections, there would be no Internet. In many cases,
although networks may be competitors within a region, they must at the same time cooperate in the
matter of interconnection. This is not merely a matter of agreeing to a price for interconnection.
Decisions about interconnection are driven by the relative balance of data traffic volumes between
networks, the geographical spread of networks, and the capital costs of bringing the physical
infrastructure of potential partner networks to a common location to enable interconnection.
In this paper, I draw from fieldwork amongst network operators in North America to examine the
constitution of network interconnection markets on the Internet. I argue that the moral economy of
network interconnection markets is founded upon norms of trust and openness, which are made
possible through intimate spaces in which the individuals – called “peering coordinators” – responsible
for negotiating network interconnection agreements meet and engage with one another, and the related
intimate spaces of shared technological infrastructure which enable the physical interconnection of
networks.
Although interconnection agreements involve contractual relationships amongst corporations operating
networks, I found that purely economic explanations are insufficient to account for the operation of
network interconnection markets. Rather than being constrained to purely economic logic, I found
network interconnection markets to be profoundly shaped by social relationships of trust amongst
peering coordinators. Peering coordinators do engage in sophisticated economic calculation in the
interests of the networks they represent, but their ability to perform their duties is conditioned by the
social relationships they maintain with one another, the allowances they make in their interactions, and
the strategic information they are willing to share amongst themselves.
Values of trust and openness amongst peering coordinators are enabled through the intimate spaces of
conferences of professional associations of network operators. Over the course of these conferences, a
separate session is held for peering coordinators. While anyone can attend this session, it is by
convention never recorded or reported upon. In addition, peering coordinators may schedule
appointments during these conferences, and meet and be introduced to one another in the hallways of
the conference venues, and in the course of social events organized as part of the conference. These
intimate spaces offer the opportunity to speak openly to share information, and evaluate
trustworthiness, thereby engaging in sense-making towards forming shared understandings of the
practice of forming network interconnection agreements.
The intimacy of these spaces provides for the enforcement of norms of confidentiality, allowing
peering coordinators to engage openly with one another, trusting their colleagues not to disclose
information outside the context in which it is shared. Those who violate these norms may find it
difficult to engage in business within the community of peering coordinators. Indeed, companies
sometimes hire peering coordinators in large part based upon their reputation within their community,
anticipating that those with good reputations will be able to smooth the negotiation of interconnection
agreements, providing the social mechanisms for cooperation amongst competing interests.
Interconnection agreements also depend on another kind of intimate space: the space of the shared
technological infrastructure required to physically interconnect networks. These spaces may be
operated by one or the other of the networks intending to interconnect, but are more often operated as
shared infrastructure over which many networks may interconnect, allowing for economies of scale.
This shared infrastructure is operated by various kinds of entities, ranging from for-profit corporations
which invest in this infrastructure themselves, to non-profit associations of network operators which
construct this infrastructure through donations, fees, and contributions from their membership. These
arrangements all address a common problem of cooperation amongst competing corporate entities in
the provision of shared infrastructure, to provide a common good.
The moral economy of network interconnection markets – shaped by norms of trust and openness – is
made possible only through intimate social and technological spaces. Paradoxically, the production of
the seemingly placeless space of the Internet depends upon the intimate spaces of physically co-located
gatherings of people and technological infrastructure.