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Today’s networks have evolved from simple dialup systems with broad access to content (the Internet) into full-featured, service-oriented systems. As access has become nearly universal by means of DSL, cable-modems, dialup, and wireless, it has also become more of a commodity.
Networks that originated under a simple Internet access–business plan have found customer demand for more resource-intensive applications increasing. Additionally, the promise of high-speed broadband access has raised the expectations of the average consumer; networks must not only provide access to applications and services, but these functions must be easily accessible, uniform between subscribers, and predictable in terms of behavior. Networks are under pressure from the application providers themselves. New products, which test the capacity and load-sharing ability of the networks, are released regularly—each sharpening the subscriber appetite for more applications and bandwidth.
Finally, competition between network providers has focused on the ability of providers to offer applications, content, and services to subscribers; access is no longer a key differentiating point.
