Archive for October, 2012

Netnod’s Exemplary Response to the EU’s Public Consultation on “Traffic Management”

by on Oct.18, 2012, under Uncategorized

Patrik Fältström and Netnod have provided a sterling example of how to correct the misframing of issues related to “managed services” or “specialized services.”  Read the submission itself for a perfect illustration of how drawing the distinction correctly leads the way to policy insight.

(from Netnod’s blog.)

Netnod has filed a response to the Public Consultation on specific aspects of transparency, traffic management and switching in an Open Internet that DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology use for information gathering for the Commission’s planned recommendations that commissioner Kroes announced on May 29 2012.

In summary, Netnod does believe further work is required to clarify the use of the term ‘Internet Access’. Netnod does however urge caution since Netnod does not agree with some conclusions. This as Netnod does believe some of the concepts described, related to congestion control and Quality of Service, are not applicable in a packet based network.

You can read the full statement here.

Contact person at Netnod: Patrik Fältström, (Head of Research and Development).

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Susan Crawford: We Can’t All Be in Google’s Kansas

by on Oct.18, 2012, under Uncategorized

(Original at Wired)

If the current internet access providers that dominate the American telecommunications landscape could get away with it, they’d sell nothing but specialized services and turn internet access into a dirt road.

[. . .]

[I]ncumbent internet access providers such as Comcast and Time Warner (for wired access) and AT&T and Verizon (for complementary wireless access) are in “harvesting” mode. They’re raising average revenue per user through special pricing for planned “specialized services” and usage-based billing, which allows the incumbents to constrain demand. The ecosystem these companies have built is never under stress, because consumers do their best to avoid heavy charges for using more data than they’re supposed to. Where users have no expectation of abundance, there’s no need to build fiber on the wired side of the business or build small cells fed by fiber on the wireless side.

If the current internet access providers that dominate the American telecommunications landscape could get away with it, they’d sell nothing but specialized services and turn internet access into a dirt road.

But the key barrier to competition – the incumbents’ not-so-secret weapon – is the high up-front costs of building fiber networks. That’s why the new 1-gigabit-per-second network planned by Google for residences in Kansas City was cited as an example of a “positive recent development” in the FCC chairman’s speech. Google was welcomed with open arms by Kansas City because the company offered a wildly better product than anything the cable distributors can provide: gigabit symmetric fiber access. The company has the commercial strength to finance this build itself, and it has driven down costs in every part of its product to make its Kansas City experiment commercially viable.

While the Google Fiber plan provides a valuable model, other communities that want to ensure their residents get fiber to the home shouldn’t have to wait.

We need policies that lower the barriers to entry for competitors. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck with the second-best cable networks now in place around the country, with their cramped upload capacity, bundled nature, deep affection for usage-based billing, and successful political resistance to any form of oversight.

[. . .]

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Meeting of Open Internet Advisory Board: October 9

by on Oct.04, 2012, under Uncategorized

(from Berkman Center for Internet and Society and FCC)

At its October 9, 2012 meeting, the Committee will consider issues relating to the subject areas of its four working groups—Mobile Broadband, Economic Impacts of Open Internet Frameworks, Specialized Services, and Transparency—as well as other open Internet related issues.

Tuesday, October 9, 10am-12pm
Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West A Room
This event will be webcast live

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) announces the date, time, and agenda of the next meeting of the Open Internet Advisory Committee (“Committee”).

The next meeting of the Committee will take place on October 9, 2012, from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. in Milstein West A at the Wasserstein Hall/Caspersen Student Center, Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138.

At its October 9, 2012 meeting, the Committee will consider issues relating to the subject areas of its four working groups—Mobile Broadband, Economic Impacts of Open Internet Frameworks, Specialized Services, and Transparency—as well as other open Internet related issues.  A limited amount of time will be available on the agenda for comments from the public.  Alternatively, members of the public may send written comments to Daniel Kirschner, Designated Federal Officer of the Committee, or Deborah Broderson, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, at the addresses provided below.

The meeting is open to the public and the site is fully accessible to people using wheelchairs or other mobility aids.  Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request.  The request should include a detailed description of the accommodation needed and contact information.  Please provide as much advance notice as possible; last minute requests will be accepted, but may not be possible to fill.  To request an accommodation, send an email to [protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at  202-418-0530  (voice),  202-418-0432  (TTY).

The meeting of the Committee will also be broadcast live with open captioning over the Internet at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2012/10/oiac.

For further information about the Committee, contact:  Daniel Kirschner, Designated Federal Officer, Office of General Counsel, Federal Communications Commission, Room 8-C830, 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554; phone:  202-418-1735 ; email: [protected]; or Deborah Broderson, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Room 5-C736, 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554; phone:  202-418-0652 ; email: [protected].

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