It all about connectivity, and lots of it. That means owning a very big network, with extensive geographical reach, lots of bandwidth and a direct path to as many end-users and as much critical content as possible. In network terms, it all comes down to routes and rankings.
Using a number of key metrics, Dyn Research rank the networks with the most predominant role in the global Internet routing system. Telia Carrier currently holds the #1 position in the global Internet backbone rankings and as of January 2018, our direct customers account for more than 53% of global Internet routes.
Uniquely, we got here by growing organically. We’ve been fervently adding customers and expanding our network for more than two decades now, something Dyn highlighted in their 2015 ‘Baker’s Dozen’ report:
‘The biggest story of 2015 was the meteoric ascent of TeliaSonera (#2) as it challenged Level 3 for the #1 global ranking, a position Level 3 has held without interruption since the end of 2008. TeliaSonera actually surpassed Level 3 briefly in 2016 and is a fraction of a percent below them at the time of writing, an achievement hard to imagine when we started out.’
Dyn Baker’s Dozen, April 2016
Our network continues to grow and we have consistently held the #1 position in the Dyn Global Internet Backbone rankings since 2017.
When it comes to connectivity, you can never have too much certainty. Which is why we developed our red and blue network concept.
This strict separation of two geographically diverse networks delivers 99.999% reliability. And as both the red and blue networks have similar delay performance, delivery doesn’t suffer if one of them goes down.
In contrast to most carriers, we have a high level of PoP diversity. All international gateway PoPs and cities with high traffic have a minimum of two identical PoPs, at two different locations, to guarantee performance.
Crossings in the network are, in practice, unavoidable. But we are constantly rebuilding our network to minimize the risks.
Where red-blue can’t be applied, documented standards – aimed at resilience by design – allow for meshing and ring concepts.
Further, we try to double everything that’s feasible, including power, so if something happens it won’t affect our customers. And we are always on the lookout for new ways to improve our entire system.