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At MIX Salon 2012 we have Renzo Ravaglia, Interoute EVP service Provider and we ask him
what do you think about the recent Telecom Italia proposal about paid peering, which will turn the Italian internet into a hierarchical interconnection scheme?
Let me first give an overview of what is happening in other European countries because thanks to my work in Interoute
I have a visibility of what happens in other parts of the world and what other incumbents are doing.
The other incumbents can be divided more or less in two categories: those, let's say, extreme liberals like Telecom Italia was until today,
and the other more selective ones such as Telefonica and Deutsche Telecom just to mention two of the most significant examples.
What is the advantage of a liberal approach?
It is to ensure a strong liberalization of the market, the emergence of many players,
many operators who determine a strong development of the Internet world.
So in retrospect it can be considered an extremely positive approach because it helps the birth of many operators
that otherwise would have to face high interconnection costs.
Changing this approach has an obvious commercial meaning, it is clear:
I have the customers, I have the termination and then I can ask, not impose, but I ask that they pay me.
Of course this happens within a non-balanced commercial agreement because the discrepancy between the power,
the size of an incumbent with respect to a small/medium service provider is so obvious that we can not imagine a negotiation.
If you want, you accept it like this or nothing.
So with a scenario like this, understandably from a commercial perspective, we must also ask to ourselves which are the negative effects.
What does this mean for the delicate Italian economy so poorly oriented to the use of Internet technologies?
It could mean a further reduction of the role of our country, and of the importance of Internet technologies in the Italian economy.
So speaking as a medium/large operator that has peering agreements anywhere in the world and also for a long time with Telecom Italia,
I hope that this proposal does not go any further and the situation continues as it is now
because this would be an advantage for everyone and also for Telecom Italia, that will increase its traffic,
its possibility and capacity for interconnection and because it is a benefit for the national economy
and an operator such as Telecom Italia would have all the benefits, direct and indirect.