In a message written on Tue, Jul 09, 2002 at 10:39:35AM -0400, Jared Mauch wrote:
They aren't aware of the savings they can see, consider the savings too small, don't know how to configure, can't configure, break the config, etc.. the list goes on and on.
Speaking from a provider who used to run multicast, and now doesn't: Customers don't want it. I can count our customer requests for multicast on both hands for the last two years. Of those, only one thought it was important, the rest were just playing with it. In fact, pretty much the only place we see it anymore is on RFP's from educational groups. My own view is that customers don't want it, because end users don't have it. Dial up users will probably never get multicast. So that leaves Cable Companies (good luck for them to do something intelligent) or DSL providers (perhaps they might) to make it happen. If a few million end users could just 'get it', then people running streaming services would be beating on backbone providers to carry it around. There is also a payment problem. If a unicast bit enters your network, you can be assured it takes one path to the destination. When a multicast bit enters your network, it could take one path, or it could take 50 paths through your network. The latter does cost the ISP more. This also makes peering an issue, as many people use ratio. If there was a significant amount of multicast traffic, hosting ISP's would send end-user ISP's one small stream that they would then replicate. That would pretty much make the ratio completely opposite of what it is today, due to unicast streaming. I'll be the first to jump on the multicast bandwagon, but I don't work for an eyeball provider. The first adopters need to be DSL and cable modem providers, to the end user, on by default. Then we can go somewhere. -- Leo Bicknell - bicknell@ufp.org - CCIE 3440 PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/ Read TMBG List - tmbg-list-request@tmbg.org, www.tmbg.org