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Broadband Access. S. C. Sahasrabudhe, CERC- Ahmedabad, India. Framework. Internet ISP The Client (You & I) QoS. Internet. Global Network Loosely Coupled (Little Central Control) Extremely Valuable Billions of Clients (Consumers)
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Broadband Access S. C. Sahasrabudhe, CERC- Ahmedabad, India
Framework • Internet • ISP • The Client (You & I) • QoS
Internet • Global Network • Loosely Coupled (Little Central Control) • Extremely Valuable • Billions of Clients (Consumers) • Livelihoods, Working lives, communication, Education,…It affects everything. • So, Quality of Access to it is no trivial matter.
QoS • Very Illusive(Engineering, Subjective, and Random) • Engineers have studied it well, but mostly to improve the Quality. • The Engineers (may be, rather foolishly) seem to assume that all play fair! • Also, they address issues related not only to the ISP but the entire net.
Some Q/A on Access Speed • Q. Is the access speed very important? • Ans. Yes, it is. • Q. Can it be measured? • Ans. Yes, it can be. • Q. Can a consumer understand the measurement? • Ans. It is difficult. It is random and depends on several factors
Factors in QoS • QoS depends on Several factors. .like: access speed, packet loss rate, different jitters, and also on the Application. • We need measurement of not just the access speed but of QoS. • QoS Application on the Consumer’s Machine?
Consumer and the SLA • Most Consumers do not really Understand the SLA they sign! • A Model SLA ( at least a template)? • Should be possible. • All SLAs in Public Domain? • Content Design of the Bill?
Template for Bill Format The Quality Index will take into account: Error rates, Packet Delays, etc
Complaints and Redress • To whom? ISP or Regulator, or Both? • Access to Information from the Regulator! (Not my Fault!) • Powers to the Regulator? • Some Good Work! Next Few slides are Meredith Whittaker’s Presentation at Baku
Verifiable data for consumerEmpowerment Me Meredith Whittaker Google Research & Measurement Lab Research Consortium
Empowering Consumerswith transparency • Consumers deserve to know • "What is going on with my Internet?"
Accountable measurement:"Facts based on facts" • To be accountable, network measurement must be open, and scientifically verifiable. • The Measurement Lab Research Consortium (M-Lab) provides an open ecosystem for network measurement • measurementlab.net
Open data, open measurement • The M-Lab model: ● Globally distributed, consistent testing servers ● 11 Open-source, consumer-facing measurement tools ● All data collected put into the public domain, over 600 terabytes freely available
Privacy matters • M-Lab: "active tests" sending synthetic data. • No personally identifying information is collected, all data can be shared.
Problem in Waiting • Mobile Access on 3G, 4G, and beyond • The Dominant Access in 3/5 yrs. • Two Major Issues: 1. Spectrum – Very Costly 2. Wireless link –Poor, Unpredictable 3. Capturing Transactions?
References • Holding Broadband Providers to Account, A consumer Advocacy Manual, Kualalmpur 2012. • Enforcement Report, A report on Ofcom’s approach to enforcement and recent activity, May 2011. 3. UK fixed broadband speeds, Ofcom Research Report, March 2011
ISSUES • Q1. What do the Service Providers tell their Clients? • Ans. Very Little (if anything). Most do not understand anyway!
Next Question • Q2. (More difficult). What is your access speed? • It is a random variable- mean and variance? Not fully. • Q3. How to correctly describe true (of real value to the consumer) speed? • Hard problem. And also, may not be easily or meaningfully measurable, and…
Next Question • Q4. Will it pass the Legal Test? • The fault was not in the service provider’s domain. • The measurements are not in accordance with the service agreement. No proof that the consumer accessed the service correctly- His computer was doing background jobs. ….
A Typical Promise • Speeds ‘up to’ XX Mbps • Real Promise- It will never exceed XX Mbps- We assure you.
Another Issue • Internet is used also for (other than file download) : Gaming, VoIP (Skype) • These experiences are affected by: Delay, Packet Losses, Jitter etc. • So, QoS is determined by many other factors
Increase Competition • This is so Obvious: But here • If online – Fiber or the ‘tp’. Change implies cost, long break in service. Can turn out to be “from frying pan into fire”. • In the forthcoming world of “Wireless” it might be easier to provide competition, but will be much harder to prove culpability in lack of service quality • There are Engineering problems but that is for the Engineers
Nutrition Label? • It should certainly help. • A Good First Step • Comprehensive QoS measurement • Done by an Independent Regulatory Body May be a better a answer Thank You