Network topology and city accessibility of the commercial Internet

The rapid growth in this decade of World Wide Web access through the Intern et is supported by a complex: matrix of telecommunications infrastructure. This paper presents an overview of the history of the Internet and recent e fforts to measure its structure and performance, and examines the spatial o rganization of the commercial Internet backbone. The research presented in this paper differs from previous Internet measurement work in that we apply network analysis methods to evaluate Internet connectivity. Transportation network analysis techniques are applied to measure 1) connectivity of indi vidual service provider networks and 2) accessibility of cities to Internet service. The results reveal many different strategies implemented by servi ce providers in network design as well as large differences in levels of ac cessibility of cities and regions in the United States. There is also an ap parent disparity between population and city accessibility to the Internet.