Internet data traffic growth shows no signs of slowing anytime soon and peak traffic is projected to grow even faster due to many factors, including growth in video and cloud-based services and richer content on major websites. The changing nature of demand for bandwidth has potentially large implications for our communications landscape. For example, it may already be straining long-standing peering and transit agreements as traditional balances of traffic change and is increasingly testing the viability of the traditional “all-you-can-eat” broadband pricing models.

“The Future of Internet Economics” will highlight existing research on the economics of broadband and will address such topics as how changing bandwidth consumption patterns could impact future business models, how such changes could affect content creation, and what role, if any, the government should play as the industry grapples with these changes.

Questions should be directed to Ashley Creel at [email protected]. Members of the press should contact Amy Smorodin at [email protected].

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Stanley M. Besen, Senior Consultant, Charles River Associates
Paper: The Evolution of Internet Interconnection from Hierarchy to “Mesh”: Implications for Government Regulation (with Mark A. Israel)

Bill Lehr, Research Associate, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Paper: Measuring Internet Performance when Broadband is the New PSTN (with Steve Bauer and David Clark)

Shane Greenstein, Kellogg Chair in Information Technology, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Anna-Maria Kovacs, Visiting Senior Policy Scholar, Center for Business and Public Policy, McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University
Paper: Internet Peering & Transit

Thomas Lenard, President and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute

Peter Sevcik, President, NetForecast

Howard Shelanski, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law School

Scott Wallsten, Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute

Michael Weinberg, Staff Attorney, Public Knowledge

Christopher Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science, University of Pennsylvania Law School