IP technology is designed in a way that enables a radically different environment for service development, innovation and competition when it comes to infrastructure platforms and service development platforms. The wide spread success of the Internet is based on four important characteristics:
- Separation between network technology and services
- End-to-End architecture, and extension of intelligence from the core to the edge of a network
- Scalability
- Distributed design and decentralised control
These characteristics of the technology create good conditions for development and competition where several actors can be involved in service creation and provision. The general Internet is the major IP network in the world, but it is far from the only IP network. In recent years, several private IP networks have been established and utilized for both corporate and residential services, and the future of communication platforms like the Next Generation Network architecture is based mainly on IP technology. However, when it comes to NGN, the level of competition or monopolistic characteristics depends heavily on the chosen architecture for the deployment of NGN.