Thus, traffic may be exchanged between their networks, with each bearing its own costs. This usually applies when the value of interconnection for each of two networks is disparate-for instance, when a small ISP connects to a larger ISP that operates a national Internet backbone. In this circumstance, the small ISP is the customer acquiring Internet connectivity from the larger ISP, and it pays for that service. Interconnection on the basis of settlements to reflect disparate traffic flows is open to abuse because currently, the systems and business models necessary to implement such an arrangement do not exist. A number of organizations are trying to resolve these issues.
Industry associations representing ISPs and the information technology industry are also concerned.
The governments of Australia and of a number of Asian and European nations are also very concerned about this issue. The concern is most pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region because the costs of transpacific carriage are greater than those of transatlantic carriage. The position of these parties is that U.S. ISPs should pay at least some of the costs of carrying the international traffic generated by their customers. Many Asia-Pacific ISPs believe that if the Internet is to continue to grow in their region, they cannot afford to subsidize U.S. Internet users. Now, most Asia-Pacific ISPs pay the entire cost of data links to U.S. points of interconnection, in addition to port charges for interconnection to U.S. Internet backbones.