Michael's Insight

Just as I thought...give 'em as much as they use!

I mentioned yesterday that I was suspicious of Robb Topolski's definition of acceptable network management practices.  Well, just as I suspected, Robb justified my concern right here in a comment to my post yesterday.

Yes, I approve of Network Management – the old fashioned kind – the kind that says you stay ahead of demand by upgrading your networks on time and you don’t oversell your bandwidth beyond all reasonableness. 

Willner's epic distortions? Hardly the case.

In a recent post, I mentioned to you that I was in Washington last week.  Little did I know that my efforts would cause a Defcon 5 call-to-action by the P2P Defense League.

I met with officials at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss the issue of network management.  One aspect of that discussion included the impact today's peer-to-peer applications have on network resources. After reading the ex parte letter that was filed by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) on my behalf, Karl at Broadband Reports took issue with some of the comments I made during those meetings.

If you want to read the whole thing, you can download a copy of the ex parte letter.

You can read for yourself what Karl wrote in its entirety but first, here's a longish summary of what NCTA reported that I said...

The truth about net neutrality and the big money behind it

Finally, a truthful article was published on Wednesday about the little known fact of who really invented the debate about net neutrality.  When you finish here, click on it -- it's a must read.  The story was published in a most unlikely place too - The San Francisco Enquirer - the big hometown newspaper serving the Silicon Valley.  And guess who they identify as the inventor of this hot political debate...

Initially, network neutrality was the demand that network carriers ignore the Internet's fundamental inequality. Google had good reason to advocate this, because it is advantaged by a status quo in which money buys privilege. Any move by carriers to selectively boost speeds for fees dulls the advantage Google has secured for itself by building huge complexes of hundreds of thousands of computers.

There you have it.  Net neutrality, and all the puff about fairness, equality and openness is all about "money buy[ing] privilege."  And this time, I didn't say it, Google's own hometown paper did.

To each according to his needs...

Karl Marx came up with a really bad idea that plunged half the world into the failed Communist experiment for generations.  It was communal living that subscribed to the principle of, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

Why do I mention that?  Well, Argo posted a comment a while back relating to the shared use of the Internet.  A few of you have become concerned that there is a crusade against P2P protocols and that perhaps I'm a part of it. 

The anti-P2P movement looks like desperation.
Like ISPs aren't ready for faster speeds on their networks and by playing the blame game "blaming customers for using the internet" really looks like a false finger pointing expedition.
Here's the real question... When did bandwidth become a form of communism?

Okay.  That's fair game.

Wednesday article links

It appears that quite a few of you enjoyed the variety of subjects in yesterday's links, so I'm going to continue to post these short subject links to other articles.  I will continue to write the longer form pieces that delve more deeply into a given subject and is reflective of my own point view.  The links are simply articles of interest, whether or not I agree with their point of view.

Today's links are focused primarily on public policy issues - there's a hearing on Capitol Hill today regarding behavior-based web advertising and FastCompany.tv has posted an video interview with Kyle McSlarrow, CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

Enjoy.

Here we go again -- more advocates for government regulation of the Internet

I came across the public policy group, Internet for Everyone which is advocating a government solution to the "problem" of America's broadband deployment.  Here's what they say is their primary mission.

InternetforEveryone.org initiative calls on Congress and the president to act in the public interest by enacting a plan for the wired and wireless Internet...

The buzz words here are, "enacting a plan."  That's code for more government regulation. 

If telcos can promote their hybrid-fiber-coax as fiber, why can't cable operators do the same?

Over at Broadband Reports, Karl is taking aim at a couple of cable operators that are promoting their broadband Internet service as a "fiber optics" connection. Karl claims that these cable operators aren't being honest when they promote their hybrid-fiber-coax (HFC) networks as a "fiber optics" connection.

The operators that Karl highlights are in direct competition with telephone companies selling fiber-to-the-home Internet service.

P2P applications use 44% of network bandwidth in North America

Multichannel News reported recently that 44% of all network traffic on North American Internet service providers is peer-to-peer file sharing traffic, up from 41% last year.

That statistic was the result of a survey of major ISPs by Sandvine, a company that sells network management systems. I note, in light of the dicussion for more openness in network management practices, that the survey results were posted on Sandvine's website for everyone to read.

Blazing Speeds with DOCSIS 3.0

Most of us take our broadband connection for granted.  Thanks to cable modems, turn on your computer and, in a matter of seconds, you're surfing.

A lot of thought went into designing cable modems.  The core software that all cable companies use in them is called DOCSIS.  In order to keep up with the Internet's breakneck pace of change, CableLabs has developed the next generation of DOCSIS (DOCSIS 3.0) that will enable cable operators to increase speeds dramatically.

Usage Caps and Notification

Terry asked the following question:

I would like to know how people are going to be notified if they are close to their cap? It would be nice if I received an email saying I was close and needed to stop (downloading) for a while, rather than getting a large extra charge on my bill.

I think that's a very fair point.  As I've said in previous posts, we don't have any specific plans at this moment to implement caps.  But I also said that we are watching developments on that subject where Bend Broadband and Time Warner have announced their specific policies.

Because usage patterns are growing so rapidly, most ISP's are forced to consider an alternative policy to the one-size-fits-all charges. 

Confessions of a Network Manager (Part 2)

I promised more on Network Management following my Part 1 post a few weeks ago.  Today, I'd like to discuss downstream management.

Why Do We Have to Manage Downstream Usage?

We, at Insight, go to great lengths to handle network management fairly.  We recognize that the Internet is a shared network, and that all network managers, ISP's and backbone providers alike, first should provision responsibly and then make sure their networks don't get clogged up. 

Customers comment on Broadband caps and metering

Dualsub2006 expressed a concern about usage caps:

Any thoughts of a 40GB cap in Insight land will NOT go over very well.

I hear you and as I have previously mentioned, we currently are not planning any changes in the way we charge customers for their Internet usage. Did I leave the door open to changing that in the future?  Yes I did.  We are keeping a watchful eye on increasing usage patterns and regulatory, legislative and business movements affecting these issues. 

Telcos figure out the answer is coax

Broadband Reports pointed me to a new and interesting product the other day. Turns out some telcos want to use existing coaxial cable in fiber-to-the-home deployments, avoiding more costly Cat-5 wiring. Yes, that's coaxial cable originally installed for cable television.

In a world of super high-speed connections, isn't it ironic that the time-tested technology that delivers your cable services is "discovered" by the telcos to be the best way to connect to your home devices?  Cable operators have known for years that a hybrid-fiber-coax network (HFC) is the best and most efficient way to deliver voice, video and data services to customers' devices. 

A New ISP Business Model

Argo recently asked,

(Why shouldn't) a cable company offer a platform to other media outfits and charge them for maintenance and overhead rather pass that cost to customers."

Great question! 

Let's look at one example of a new business model. 

Netflix recently announced a set-top box to deliver movies directly to a set-top box via the Inernet. It's a very exciting idea that adds great value to their service and they will save a ton of money in postage, a good thing for them. 

Their plan will use an enormous amount of Internet bandwidth which can cause additional congestion along the way.  To prevent this from happening, ISP's and Internet backbone suppliers provision for increases in usage. 

Convention Buzz: Strong Results and WiMax

The Cable Show opened on Sunday in New Orleans.  I've been to around 30 of these annual events and the mood of the industry is usually quite clear.  Coming off a string of very strong Q1 results by all reporting companies, the mood is good.  We reported last Thursday record increases in basic, broadband and phone customers.  We had a great quarter, adding over 15,000 basic customers and increasing our revenue by 17% and operating income (the financial guys call it OIBTDA) by 22%. 

So, here in New Orleans, there's a sense of optimism

Confessions of a Network Manager (Part 1)

Okay, I confess.  It's true.  I'm a network manager.  I manage networks.  Not directly, but I approve policies that authorize our technical people to do just that.  I can't help myself.  There, I said it.

What is network management?

Simply put, network management is a series of rules that network managers put in place to ensure the smooth operation of their networks, thus maximizing customers' experiences.  I'm not sure why, but network management has become a debate. 

Why do we do this?

Download movies the same day you can purchase the DVD at the store

For those of you who are iTunes users, I saw an interesting story last week on the blogs about a deal Apple has struck with most of the major movie studios to release their movies on iTunes the same day they are available as DVDs at retailers. Broadband Reports wrote:

Apple this morning dropped the news that customers will now be able to purchase films from iTunes the same day they hit DVD shelves, eliminating the typical 30-45 day delay between DVD launch and digital availability. It appears that a lot of major studios are on board as well, including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.

Apple's iTunes online downloads have supplanted CD sales, with Apple recently overtaking Wal-Mart as he largest retailer of music in the U.S.

Cable providers invest in wireless broadband network

The New York Times reports this morning that a consortium of Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House and Clearwire are set to announce today a $12 billion deal to build the nation's first wireless 4G network. The proposed wireless network speeds would be comparable to current home broadband speeds.

House of Representatives hearing on net neutrality

The U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is holding a hearing today on a bill that would regulate certain aspects of net neutrality.

I believe deeply in the principle of free access to all legal Internet destinations. What I want to make sure of is that we don't confuse net neutrality with