Hi David - See some comments inline below. Hope you are well!
- Jason
On 8/10/18, 11:35 PM, "Bloat on behalf of dpr...@deepplum.com"
<bloat-boun...@lists.bufferbloat.net on behalf of dpr...@deepplum.com> wrote:
Of course, the folks who wanted to see Internet connectivity spread and
restructure the economic structure of communications decided not to look this
"gift horse" in the mouth. Congress was going to fund rollouts of Cable TV (new
and upgrades), and as a side effect, maybe some better Internet.
[JL] How and when did Congress fund DOCSIS network investments (either in
2007-2008 or before)? Do you have any citations for this?
The architecture of the Cable TV service distributes *every* channel
simultaneously to every endpoint, consuming outrageous bandwidth compared to
the 25 Mb/s diddly squat usage on the "broad band" cable or fiber.
[JL] This is changing more rapidly than you may realize, through a combination
of factors. One is that most cable companies have been deploying IP-based set
tops for several years, which enables more unicast delivery using IP, which
frees up channels for DOCSIS Internet services (otherwise where would cable
companies find the channel space to 24 or 32 downstream channels plus D3.1 OFDM
compared to 4 or 8 downstreams a few years ago?). In addition, on the demand
side, customers increasingly watch programs via their DVR or On Demand library
rather than watching something live (typical exceptions being sports, news,
weather, etc.). Finally, they are also watching increasingly on non-set-top
devices like tablets and laptops.
So, in responding to this notice by the FCC of a "standard" for Broadband,
just realize that you might want to question the entire proposition that
Broadband is a thing that needs a standard.
[JL] I thought it was just the usual annual NOI on the definition of "advanced
telecommunications capabilities". The use of the word "broadband" just appears
to be shorthand for that. See
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-119A1.pdf which says:
"Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as amended (1996 Act),
requires us to determine and report annually on “whether advanced
telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a
reasonable and timely fashion.”FN1
FN1 47 U.S.C. § 1302(b). For simplicity in past inquiries, the Commission has
sometimes used the term “broadband” to refer to “advanced telecommunications
capability.” However, “advanced telecommunications capability” is a statutory
term with a definition that is narrower than the term “broadband.” See 47
U.S.C. § 1302(d)(1) (“The term ‘advanced telecommunications capability’ is
defined, without regard to any transmission media or technology, as high-speed,
switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to
originate and receive high quality voice, data, graphics, and video
telecommunications using any technology.”). As this definition makes clear,
while all services providing advanced telecommunications capability are
“broadband,” not all broadband services provide advanced telecommunications
capability."
What "high speed" means in the Internet is a much more meaningful question,
but that's a truth in advertising question. And it really has to do with
"response time" more than any guarantee of an "up to" speed. How long does it
take Netflix to buffer enough content to play the rest of the show without
interruption? (that's why you need burst rate) How fast do your trigger pulls
on your multiperson VR shooter get reflected on all the other players' displays?
People do pay more for that. But the standard of what "that" is - high
speed, very high speed, ... isn't just 25 Mb/sec. It's also bufferbloat, for
example.
THink about that, and don't get sucked into comments on what Cable TV
should do for minimal Internet quality.
[JL] Putting aside all the stuff about cable and broadband, it seems your
bottom line is that buffer bloat, latency, and latency under load are also
meaningful and should be considered in addition to speed/throughput measures in
this definition. That seems a worthwhile technical question to raise.
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