Clustering, Connectivity and Power laws: Useful Tools for Assessing Market Structure of the European Internet?

We study the relation between connectivity and clustering ,of Internet Service Providers, ISPs, to understand the hierarchy within European Internet Exchange Points, IXPs. We assess the possibility of power law relations between clustering and connectivity, typical markers for a hierarchical Internet market structure. We find a predominantly inverse relation between local clustering and peering strength confirming that, within the members of a given IXP, the most connected ISPs have direct neighbours that are poorly connected among themselves. The implications for market analysis of these studies of the Internet Connectivity at are discussed.