I can give you the historical situation, although this is slowly changing as the Net is becoming slightly less 'US-centric'. The philosophy for international connection to 'the Internet' (ie USA) was exactly the same as with in the US itself. That is, those wishing to connect could do so at some financial cost levied by the US ISP/NSP in addition to the cost of the transport. In the international case, this means a huge cost to those wishing to connect as they must pay the whole cost of trans-oceanic capacity. In general, because of the fact that the Internet is still US-centric, this results in high traffic flows outgoing from the US compared with much smaller incoming traffic flows. In the the case of New Zealand, only aobut 20% of the total traffic is incoming at the US end. Traditionally (and I speak for Oceania only), there were virtually no peering agreements internationally, with the result that the cost of all traffic and all transport was borne by the country connecting to the USA. This is changing slowly as large US ISP's find the need to service their multi-national customers in countries other than the US. To answer your questions more specifically: 1) I'm not sure of the answer you want here, but in general the peering rules internationally are similar to those in the US; that is, the international connection would appear in a similar manner to any normal ISP connection. 2) Peering agreements are now being considered internationally and these are generally very much 'ad hoc'. There are no hard and fast rules and the agreements are generally based on the perceived benefit to each of the parties. This may be done purely on a 'guesstimate' of traffic ensuing from requests emanating from each of the parties and a settlement made on this basis. The peering arrangement may be at either end of the international links although the 'normal' situation is for the agreement to be held at the 'busy' end - normally the USA, in the case of that country. 3) The international connectivity (cables and satellites) is owned by various consortia and capacity is 'sold' to interested parties. This may be done on a 'wholly-owned', end to end basis (depending on connection and operation agreements in place between the countries) or on a 'half-circuit' basis where the purchase of the (say) cable would be made by one party. For example, New Zealand would purchase the capacity to half-way across the Pacific, in the case of a New Zealand-USA connection. The remainder, from that point in the Pacific to the US, say, would be purchased by some US ISP/NSP. Traditionally the American half would be leased back to the remote country, who would then effectively pay for the whole transport cost. Hope this helps... Steve Barr Netway Communications +64 9 357-1566 ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: International Internet Connectivity Author: George McCormick <gmccormick@csmgusa.com> at internet Date: 06/01/98 09:09 I would be extremely appreciative if someone could explain to me how US ISPs and backbone operators address their international connectivity requirements: o How is their traffic routed? o How do peering relationships work and where do they take place? o Who pays whom for international transport(undersea cable and/or satellite) and services? Sincerely, George McCormick CSMG Cambridge, Massachusetts 617-864-0022