2024 Marks a Sea Change in the Way Policymakers Should Understand Internet Access

At the start of 2024, Peacock choose to stream an NFL playoff game over-the-top of its broadband network for the first time. People streaming the playoff game constituted 30% of Internet traffic in the United States during the time the game was played. During the Super Bowl in February, Verizon ran an ad boasting that — hard as she might try — Beyonce cannot break the Internet. Then, during the summer 2024, NBC Sports offered fans of the Paris Olympics 5,000 hours of coverage and concurrently streamed up to 60 live events.

During these and other special events when Internet traffic exploded, the billions who rely broadband networks to work, learn and play every day were unaffected. Earlier in the 21st Century, we saw evidence of limited network infrastructure that can be overwhelmed. In 2024, we observe a confidence from ISPs that suggests the presence of more durable networks that can grow in their capacity and capability at a rate faster than the growing demand for Internet content. What explains this apparent sea change in the performance of broadband networks? And how should policymakers adapt the way they understand Internet Access, considering the apparent sea change?

What happened?

I mean, it was not that long ago when the dramatic increase in Internet traffic generated by people streaming the NCAA Men’s college basketball tournament while at work constituted a significant event for broadband operators. In 2012, in advance of the Summer Olympics, a British Cabinet office released a report entitled “Preparing Your Business for the Games.” According to an article in the Guardian, the Cabinet report stated that “it is possible that Internet service may be slower during the games or, in very severe cases, there may be dropouts due to an increased number of people accessing the Internet.” The report encouraged businesses to offer flexible work arrangements because the system may be unable to cope with the demand to access the Internet. In essence, businesses are urged to plan ahead in case broadband networks become clogged.

Only 12 years later, the British Cabinet report reads as ancient history. During the 2024 Olympic games in Paris, viewers in the United States streamed over the Internet 23.5 billion minutes of Olympics coverage. On average, 4.1 million viewers streamed NBC Sports coverage each day of the games of the Games. Given the explosion of Internet delivered content that accompanied the 2024 Olympics and given the concerns raised by the British Government memo only 12-years earlier, a vision of broadband networks as clog-able pipes is no longer useful imagery.

I would go as far as to say this — if anyone’s understanding of the technical capabilities and limitations of the Internet are unchanged by what ISPs accomplished this summer, they were not paying attention. In 2012, it might have been appropriate to describe broadband networks in the language of fragility and limitation. In 2024, we must start getting comfortable with the language of ubiquity and abundance.

I would go as far as to say this — if anyone’s understanding of the technical capabilities and limitations of the Internet are unchanged by what ISPs accomplished this summer, they were not paying attention.

With a nod to Marc Andreessen’s recognition of software’s appetites, I would posit the source of the sea change is related to the seemingly infinite capabilities of software. While the cables and fiber optics networks are necessary for delivering the promise of the Internet in 2024, they are no longer sufficient. The ability of ISPs to provide Olympic fans with any content, any time is a function of software, of advanced networking, and of virtualization.

Implications for Local Government Leaders

In years past, some local government leaders and champions of Smart and Connected Communities have advocated that governments build and/or operate their own broadband networks. Advocates pointed out that local government governments successfully operate municipal utilities for power and water. If one accepts the idea that the 2024 Olympics reflects sea change in the way ISPs are delivering content via the Internet, it reasonable to question “go it alone” approaches calling on local government to build and operate broadband networks. The broadband networks of the future are not one-time investments in infrastructure. Instead, the broadband networks that will ensure that Americans realize the benefits of the Internet of today and tomorrow, will require ongoing investment (in upgrades and cybersecurity, eg) like any software-rich technology.

In place of “go it alone” approaches, local government leaders should pursue innovative public private partnerships with ISPs — who are in the best position to invest-in, upgrade and operate the advanced broadband networks of today and tomorrow. In 2024 and beyond, deploying the network pipes is only a first step toward Internet Access. The 2024 Summer Olympics provided stark evidence that when thinking about ensuring Internet Access for All, local government leaders and policymakers would be wise to let go of congested infrastructure imagery.

In the place of analogs to physical networks (e.g., water, sewer, power), local government leaders and policymakers should instead think of broadband networks as like other software-rich technologies. Local governments leverage valuable partnerships related to emerging technologies like cloud services. A sea change in the performance of modern broadband networks (so evident in 2024) should, I think, hasten increasingly collaborative public private partnerships between local governments and ISPs.

About this Medium Site

On this Medium site, I explore an array of topics related to the transformative power of smart and connected communities. A central question for this observer of the so-called smart community movement: how will municipalities, real estate developers, universities and other leading organizations develop, deploy and support smart and connected community projects at scale?

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