The truth is services like VOIP and IPTV are going to challenge end user's
connections, and they are going to learn what over subscription. And end
users are going to kick and scream about how their service provider is
ripping them off, and service is poor because the video is choppy, while
they are using their 3 mbps link that they are paying $30 a month to.
The bottom line is no Internet provider on the planet is selling speed
pre-allocated for sustained throughput of speed sold. The networks out
there, not designed for delivering the capacity required for High capacity
QOS and throughput can't handle the usage, based on the sale price. There
is an end user misperception that if someone buys 3 mb they are getting 3mb
reserved for them. What ironic to me is that its not only the end users
that have this misconception but its also law makers and media personel. I
support SBC's position. I do NOT believe in blocking. But I do believe in
acceptable use policies, and kicking off users that use capacity beyond what
is allocated for the intented purpose it was sold to them for, and allowing
customer's perform suffer when they try and get something for nothing.
If we turn it around, VOIP companies like Vonage are no different. One time
I setup a Fax server on a pool of 4 or 5 of their VOIP lines. It was all of
about 24 hours before Vonage disconnected us, for violating their acceptable
use policy. Their pricing plan just was not adequate to accommodate the
high volume calling. Its not going to be any different with other VOIP
providers. $19 a month unlimitted local and long distance plans, clearly are
counting on average statistic being met, which mean low volume calling. The
second they get costs that exceed their profit, by end users, I'm sure they
won't continue to keep those high volume callers on board.
This is a time bomb waiting to happen. Worst of all it sets the stage for
market pressures to force ISPs to sell under cost, because marketing has to
over state the capabilities of the network. Considering best case scenarios
instead of worst case scenarios. Its the formula for bankruptcies and
consumers that will suffer from poor quality services.
Laws will have to be put in place to compensate those that incur the costs,
or the quality goes to crap. I'd hate it if broadband stuped to the low
level of PC hardware and electronics. I remember I used to be able to buy
an original IBM PC, and that bad boy would last 10 years without a hickup.
Now I'm lucky to have PC hardware outlast the first year. Consumer
electronics typically come with only 90 day warrantees, its rare that they
last over the first year either. BUtits a commodity market, forcing lowest
price and features, with reliabilty nd durability forced right out of the
equation.
Its not just SBC that needs compensation, its independant ISPs. What going
to happen when a huge marketing engine like an AOL or Google, or a Comcast,
or SBC starts selling their IPTV and VOIP over every ISP's network for free?
One view is that it will force consumers to buy more bandwidth from ISPs.
Another is it will just cause lots of bad will between ISPs and there
customers, when they learn they are going to get charged more. Its deceptive
the the end user. We need a "truth in lending " type rule for ISPs. And an
ISP should get compensated for the use of their network based on their cost
to operate their network, not the average cost that others may pay. IF my
backbone provder charges me more than they charge the high volume player, I
need compensation for what I get paid. Could you imagine, if SBC was
selling transit to ISPs at $200 a mbps (which is not uncommon for T1 to DS3
pricing levels in rural areas), and then flooded their ISP customers with
traffic, by selling their end users IPTV easilly at capacity far greater
than 1 mbps. SBC would actually make more money off the ISP's transit fees
than they would make off the end user buying the IPTV service. Clearly the
ISP would be getting taken advantage of. It would put them out of business
fast. These are real issues legislators need to consider. PRoviding high
QOS broadband is not cheap, and not equal for all providers, based on size
and location.
And what makes it worse, is how do you tell whose network gets used and how
much? It can't be done. ISPs don't have the equivellent of a SS7 system.
The only protection an ISP will have is to slow down /bandwidth manage
consumers traffic. Its what we have to do. We sell CIR and MIR traffic.
The CIR becomes a factor of the over subscription rate, and not disclosed to
the end user. It a value that matches the real cost to deliver data at
sustained rates. The MIR is the speed sold to the customer based on the
targeted oversubscription rate. A 5mbps MIR service may have a 128K CIR if
to a residential prospect. For $30 a month, the end user may get 128K of
sustained throughput, after that they pay more, or get limited. For a
business custoemr paying $200, it may be 512K CIR. Its all about the math
and reality of what a network costs to provide.
I think what needs to be important is that companies are forced to make
policies that are not discriminatory. For example, its also to charge of a
$1 to take a packet from network 1 as long as you also charge the same $1 to
take a packet from network 2. In other words, If you set a price for
passing VOIP, VOIP is VOIP regardless of who provides it, and the cost to
the ISP is the same, and therefore should be compensated the same. But not
in a way that inforces that one prvider will have a lower competitive
advantage over the other.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Muto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 8:25 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Should content providers pay for standard
accesstoconsumers?
Give me a break. Whitacre is acting like SBC customer's are not supporting
the network, there is your ROI Ed. So what if all the ISP's did the same
thing? Yeah right, that'll work for about 2 minutes. This is getting way
out
of hand and I would hope Congress and the FCC et al, remember Madison
River
and knock Whitacre down a peg or two.
Ok, now let's see what happens if every ISP and content provider blocks
Ed's
customers? That should flood their support desks for a while.
Frank Muto
Co-founder - Washington Bureau for ISP Advocacy - WBIA
Telecom Summit Ad Hoc Committee
http://gigabytemarch.blog.com/ www.wbia.us
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Weasler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 5:57 PM
Subject: [WISPA] Should content providers pay for standard access
toconsumers?
--- MarketWatch Quote ---
"How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a
broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them," said Ed
Whitacre in a BusinessWeek Online interview. "What they would like to
do is use my pipes for free. I ain't going to let them do that."
He argued that because SBC and others have invested to build
high-speed networks, they are due a return. [1]
--/ MarketWatch Quote ---
It's a brave new world. I'm hoping that this is a clueless person
talking about a business he is in charge of but knows little about. I
fear that this is someone who has a feasible plan to accomplish what
he describes. I don't think that a telephone-model overlay on the
Internet will satisfy many consumers, but if they don't have an
alternative what are their options?
Hopefully, this will drive business to the WISPs, but I'm not sure
that the consumers are well enough educated to make an informed
decision and in many larger markets the LECs have driven us out of the
picture by providing service for less than their cost.
- Tony
[1]
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B5A606A5A%2D18D7%2D4FC9%2DA65C%2DC7317BC7E1CB%7D
Original interview from Business Week (registration required):
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958092.htm
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