OSPF multi-level hierarchy: Necessary at all?

Well, actually it is not that bad. The biggest number of locations is
probably found in AT&T phone network - 250 or so. Sprint is in few
dozen. The existing IGPs are quite happy with that kind of complexity,
so if you belong to the "one-router-per-POP" school of thought the
IGP complexity is a non-issue.

--vadim