Harvard University report (Oct 2009) quality of broadband services around the world

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Next Generation Connectivity

English speaking countries generally speaking have the slowest broadband (crap engineering standards, an anglo speciality, no surprise) and Ireland is at the lower end of the scale.

http://www.fcc.gov/stage/pdf/Berkman...dy_13Oct09.pdf

[EKRIUQ]

There's 232 pages, any chance of telling us the highlights.

[Sponge Bob]

We are 27th out of 30 in the OECD for speed of our broadband, table page 58 of 232 , only Mexico Turkey and Poland are slower . This survey does not include midband products by the way . Part of the data is actual speed tests on NON MIDBAND products...which were all excluded as the OECD does not consier them to be broadband . Lucky they never let 3 customers in then , eh ??!!

Lots of grim stuff in there TBH .

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Let’s not be biased for the benefit of headline readers. Ireland was top of the charts for public wifi hotspots per capita – 3.13 on page 43. Nothing of course to do with the fact that 3G broadband QoS is appalling in Ireland.

Perhaps because so many people are forced to (ab)use it as a substitute for wireline broadband (FTTH/DSL/cable) at home. And many more no doubt have to resort to a public wifi hotspot because they can’t get broadband or affordable broadband at home.

France is at the top of Wifi hotspots in 3.14 a year later, because France, one of the most competitive markets in the world for most commercially provided goods and services [underscore commercially] only has three mobile phone networks. Mobile is almost like a government service. 3G data is expensive as a result.

Switzerland's high penetration of wifi hotspots (3.15) is a function of Swisscom's near monopoly in the WiFi market in CH. Swisscom has blitzed the country with hotspots and charge monopoly prices for wifi access. It doesn't affect the Swiss - it just rips off business and tourism travellers visiting.

And 3G data roaming across Europe remains incredibly expensive.

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding had totally screwed up on Europe-wide 3G data racketeering by the network bi/tri-nopolies.

No doubt she had a “company” provided 3G data service on her laptop, paid for by the European public, and she hasn’t had any reason to notice the big bills!

Perhaps it is time she had a look at the invoices and did something about it.....

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Originally Posted by EKRIUQ

There's 232 pages, any chance of telling us the highlights.

An English newspaper, The Financial Times, finally got around to writing about the Harvard report in its weekend edition - their angle being that lack of unbundling leads to higher prices and slower real connection speeds. The US and Canada have closed networks when it comes to unbundling. [Ireland has only about 5% unbundling (eircom has 95% of the DSL market) and there is no unbundling of cable TV or fibre in Ireland. Most Irish DSL ISPs are re-selling eircom broadband, one way or another - allowing eircom to control the minimum price, speeds, contention ratios etc. There is no competition. Ireland is very similar to North America in this respect. ]


"Closed networks hinder internet access

By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York

US reluctance to force telecoms and cable operators to open their networks to competitors has led to the country being overtaken in rankings of broadband penetration and affordability, according to a study for the Federal Communications Commission.

The study by the Berkman centre for internet and society at Harvard University could strengthen expectations of change in the stance held by the FCC for much of this decade, which contrasted with countries from the Netherlands to South Korea that have "open access" policies. It notes that open access has been "a closed issue in US policy debates" since 2002.
The report's authors said their "most surprising and significant finding" was that unbundling, wholesaling and functional separation had played core roles in the transition to first-generation broadband access in most highperforming countries.

Pushing incumbent telecoms providers to restructure and open networks was playing an equally central role in planning for the next generation of high speeds and ubiquitous access, it said.

The FCC is not bound by the study and has asked for comments on it, but its publication has been seen as a sign of possible changes under Julius Genachowski, who was confirmed in June as its new chairman.

"This is a sharp departure in terms of sending a signal that we have something to learn from the rest of the world," said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus. She said it was "too late in the day" to think the US would copy other countries in unbundling networks at regulated prices. She said the findings would make "net neutrality" proposals under consideration at the Commission look "more modest".

The FCC's conclusions will inform plans for heavy investment in broadband infrastructure."

For the full article visit the link below:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac76a0e8-b...44feab49a.html