AT&T and Verizon Embracing P2P

The advantages brought by a p2p system have finally caught the eye of both AT&T and Verizon. From their recent comments, we take it that they see in file-sharing applications huge possibilities for business, particularly due to their efficiency and the fact they are low-cost distribution platforms.

Here’s what Doug Pask, a senior technologist at Verizon, was quoted to say by blog.wired.com with respect with the most important aspect of p2p (in his opinion)."I'm very interested in [P2P]. It's not a silver bullet, but it works well in high-volume environments and it has its place in the consumer world. A number of studies show that people don't use [file-sharing applications] because they want to steal content — it's about getting what they want when they want it."

This statement follows Comcast’s admission of having practiced throttling towards p2p applications since 2005 - though it has promised to implement a "protocol agnostic" approach to traffic management.

"I think, while some people want to stamp [file sharing] out, others see it as a reliable alternative for managing network costs," declared Sam Farraj, an assistant vice president at AT&T.