NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Request for input on the definition of Broadband
----- Forwarded message from David Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 04:55:14 -0400 From: David Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] Re: Request for input on the definition of Broadband Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw@gmail.com> Date: September 1, 2009 6:01:00 PM EDT To: dave@farber.net Subject: Re: [IP] Request for input on the definition of Broadband Dave, Yes, surely "broadband" should be parsed out into bandwidth, latency, availability, and so on. More significantly, though, a useful definition will not be stated in terms of specific values for those properties but rather will adapt with changing technology and expectations. I would suggest this intuition for an adaptable definition: that a "broadband" connection supports the vast majority of the currently popular information resources on the internet with satisfactory response time. That is, "currently popular" at the time the definition is invoked. As new applications emerge, they up the ante. For example, as people are induced to put their information into "the cloud", broadband service should make that indistinguishable from local storage, which means that fast uploads will be required as well as fast downloads. Any form of offsite storage suffices for this point -- I keep the master copies of my files on a university server, so I really notice even brief service interruptions, and I need symmetrical service rather than the common fast down/slow up service because I need fast uploads for things like intermediate file saves. Mary On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM, David Farber <dave@farber.net> wrote: The other day I had a conversation with a friend at the Federal Communications Commission. He asked an interesting question. When people talk about broadband they tend to talk about numbers bits per second except for. Something seems wrong with this approach. First it is very sensitive to the advancement of technology any number will be obsolete in a few years. Second of all, and maybe most important it ignores other issues that would make any speed usable in many applications -- -- like latency chair etc. He asked if there was a "syntax" for broadband -- -- that is a deeper way of characterizing when a system supports broadband and when it does not. I offer to the IP community a chance to take a crack at this interesting and potentially profitable challenge. Dave ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----