IETF: AT&T’s net neutrality claim is ‘misleading’

The head of the internet’s leading standards body said Sept. 2 that it is “misleading” for AT&T to claim that its push to charge customers for high-priority service is technically justified, CNET reports. Internet Engineering Task Force chairman Russ Housley told CNET that AT&T’s arguments to federal regulators, which cited networking standards to justify “paid prioritization” of network traffic, were invalid. “AT&T in their letter [to the Federal Communications Commission] says the IETF envisioned this,” Housley said. “That’s not my view.” This particular debate began earlier this week, when AT&T sent the FCC a letter arguing that telecommunications providers need the ability to set different prices for different forms of internet service. Paid prioritization, AT&T said, was a form of network management that was “fully contemplated by the IETF” more than a decade ago. Everyone agrees that, in the late 1990s, the IETF revised its networking standards to allow network operators to assign up to 64 different traffic “classes,” meaning priority levels. That concept of “differentiated services” is referred to today as DiffServ, which allows high-priority communications like videoconferencing to be labeled with a higher priority than bulk file-transfer protocols that aren’t as sensitive to brief slowdowns. The disagreement arises from what happens if Video Site No. 1 and Video Site No. 2 both mark their streams as high priority. “If two sources of video are marking their stuff the same, then that’s where the ugliness of this debate begins,” Housley says. “The [IETF standard] doesn’t talk about that. … If they put the same tags, they’d expect the same service from the same provider.”

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FCC rejects proposal for free wireless service

Federal regulators have shot down a proposal by a startup called M2Z Networks Inc. to build a free, nationwide wireless broadband network using a spare slice of airwaves, reports the Associated Press. The Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 1 said it has rejected M2Z’s request that the agency demand that the winner of an auction for the radio spectrum provide free internet service to anyone who connects to it. That condition would have mirrored M2Z’s business model of offering free basic wireless broadband access—with speeds of up to 768 kilobits per second—that would be supported by advertising in addition to a faster, premium service. “We gave careful and thorough consideration to the proposal, but ultimately determined that this was not the best policy outcome,” Ruth Milkman, head of the FCC’s wireless bureau, said in a statement. The FCC did not explain its rejection further. M2Z’s plan had encountered resistance from T-Mobile USA and other big wireless carriers, which warned that it would interfere with their own services…

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FCC seeks input on rules for online services

The FCC is seeking public input on what rules should apply to wireless internet access.
The FCC is seeking public input on what rules should apply to wireless carriers and specialized internet services.

In the latest twist in the Federal Communications Commission’s pursuit of “net neutrality” rules to prevent broadband providers from discriminating against certain types of traffic flowing over their lines, federal regulators are seeking public input on what rules should apply to wireless internet access and specialized services that aren’t part of the internet but are delivered over wired broadband connections.

The agency’s move comes a few weeks after Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. announced a proposal of their own that would allow the FCC to enforce net neutrality rules for wireline broadband traffic would but exempt wireless carriers. The companies’ plan, which was not popular with public interest groups, also would leave room for broadband providers to charge extra to route traffic from so-called “premium services” over dedicated networks that are separate from the public internet.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, as well as many internet content providers, public interest groups, and education organizations, say net neutrality rules are needed to prevent phone and cable companies from abusing their control over high-speed internet access to become online gatekeepers for content.…Read More

GAO report: Too little competition in wireless market

According to a government report released Aug. 26, consolidation over the past decade has left just four big carriers in control of 90 percent of the wireless market, making it harder for small and regional companies to compete, reports the Associated Press. The study by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, could help fuel the FCC’s recent efforts to increase oversight of the wireless industry. The FCC is currently considering rules that would require wireless phone companies to alert consumers before they reach roaming or data usage limits on their wireless plans. It has also been looking into common industry practices such as charging consumers early termination fees to break a service contract before it expires. The GAO study found that despite the industry consolidation, consumers are benefiting from better wireless coverage and prices that are half what they were in 1999. It also says that nearly 40 percent of U.S. households rely on a cell phone as a primary phone. Although the GAO reached no firm conclusion on the causes of limited competition in the wireless sector, it does list a number of factors regularly cited by smaller carriers and consumer groups. Those include early termination fees and handset exclusivity deals such as AT&T Inc.’s contract with Apple Inc. to serve as the sole U.S. carrier for the iPhone…

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FCC: Web speed half of what is promised

A new FCC study is reporting dramatic differences between the “up to” figures touted by phone and cable companies in promoting their web connections and the internet speeds consumers actually get, WalletPop reports. According to the FCC, the differences exist no matter how consumers get their broadband. “Actual download speeds experienced by U.S. consumers lag advertised speed by roughly 50 percent,” according to an FCC technical report released this week. While saying clearly that consumers are unlikely to get a download at the advertised speed, the FCC was less specific on whether this is because internet providers are fudging in their ads. Computer performance, local Wi-Fi network hardware and configuration issues, and overburdened internet sites could be contributing to the slower speeds, it said. “‘Cheated’ is a strong term,” said Benjamin Lennett, senior policy analyst for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative, which analyzed the FCC report. But “clearly, there is a problem going on.” The FCC report said that, in 2009, consumers subscribed to connections advertised as averaging a speed of up to 8 megabytes per second. The average download speed consumers actually got was 4 megabytes per second, and heavy internet downloaders got about 3 megabytes per second for their average downloads. The report also said that the differences between the advertised speed and the actual speed occurred whether the internet came by fiber, cable, DSL, or satellite…

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Source: Google, Verizon near net neutrality plan

Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are close to finalizing a proposal for so-called “network neutrality” rules, which would dictate how broadband providers treat internet traffic flowing over their lines, according to a person briefed on the negotiations, the Associated Press reports. A deal could be announced within days, said the person, who did not want to be identified because negotiations are still ongoing. Any deal that is reached could form the basis for federal legislation and would likely shape efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to broker an agreement on the contentious issue, which has pitted the nation’s big phone and cable companies against many big internet companies. The FCC has been holding talks with a handful of large phone, cable and internet companies–including Verizon and Google–to try to reach some sort of industrywide compromise on net neutrality that all sides can accept. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is seeking to adopt rules that would require phone and cable companies to give equal treatment to all broadband traffic traveling over their networks…

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GOP senators move to block FCC on net neutrality

Seven Republican senators have announced a plan to curb the Obama administration’s push to impose net-neutrality regulations on the internet, CNET reports. On July 21, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and six other GOP senators introduced legislation that would dramatically limit the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to regulate broadband providers. “The FCC’s rush to takeover the internet is just the latest example of the need for fundamental reform to protect consumers,” DeMint said in a statement. Without this legislation, DeMint said, the FCC will “impose unnecessary, antiquated regulations on the internet.” The new bill—called the Freedom for Consumer Choice Act, or FCC Act—doesn’t eliminate the FCC’s power over broadband providers. But that power would be narrowed in scope and would come to resemble the antitrust enforcement power of the Department of Justice. Supporters of net neutrality—which include many education groups—say new internet regulations are necessary to prevent broadband providers from arbitrarily restricting content or prioritizing one type of traffic over another…

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Government working on wireless spectrum inventory

Federal officials are beginning work on a comprehensive inventory of the nation’s radio spectrum in hopes of finding more capacity for wireless high-speed internet connections, reports the Associated Press. Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski said his agency is working closely with the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to catalog current spectrum usage. The FCC oversees spectrum allocated to commercial wireless carriers, as well as state and local spectrum uses. The NTIA manages spectrum use by federal agencies such as the Defense Department. The FCC and NTIA hope to identify airwaves that could be reallocated for wireless broadband services, including the cutting-edge 4G services now being rolled out by the big mobile carriers. The agencies also hope to promote wireless services that rely on unlicensed spectrum, such as Wi-Fi. The spectrum inventory marks the first step toward implementing one of the key recommendations in the FCC’s national broadband plan: a proposal to free up another 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next 10 years. The wireless industry currently holds roughly 500 megahertz of spectrum…

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Intel, FTC in talks to settle antitrust case

Intel Corp. and the Federal Trade Commission are in talks to settle an antitrust case against the chip maker, a move that might increase competition in the chip market but also could make it more difficult for rivals to pursue damages, reports the Associated Press. In December, the FTC filed charges against Intel, seeking to end what it described as decades of illegal sales tactics that have hampered competitors and kept prices for computer chips artificially high. This week, the FTC and Intel agreed to suspend administrative trial proceedings as they work on hashing out a settlement. The FTC accused Intel of strong-arming computer makers into exclusive deals, manipulating technical data to make its chips look more powerful than those from competitors, and blocking rivals from making its chips work with Intel’s. Intel has disputed the charges. A settlement would be at least a partial victory for Intel, said Robert Lande, director of the American Antitrust Institute at the University of Baltimore. If Intel loses in court, rival chip makers such as Nvidia Corp. would be able to pursue damages. By contrast, settlements often come without any admission of wrongdoing. A key question remains whether the settlement will affect computer prices. Intel says its sales strategies help keep chip prices low; the FTC argues that prices haven’t fallen as much as they could have.

The case is particularly important, because the FTC has said it wants to change Intel’s behavior, instead of merely issuing fines…

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FCC votes to reconsider broadband regulations

The FCC's decision could have important implications for schools, many of which favor net-neutrality rules.
The FCC's decision could have important implications for schools, many of which favor net-neutrality rules.

Federal regulators are reconsidering the rules that govern high-speed internet connections, wading into a bitter policy dispute that could be tied up in Congress and the courts for years. The dispute has important implications for schools and colleges, many of which are hoping for clear rules that prevent service providers from discriminating against certain types of internet traffic.

Over the objections of the agency’s two Republican commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission voted June 17 to begin taking public comments on three different paths for regulating broadband. These include a proposal by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, to define broadband access as a telecommunications service subject to “common carrier” obligations to treat all traffic equally.

Genachowski’s proposal is a response to a federal appeals court ruling this past spring that cast doubt on the agency’s authority over broadband under its existing regulatory framework.…Read More

A face-off over sale of spectrum by FCC

Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks exposed the communications difficulty that police, fire, and other personnel had in a crisis, government and public safety officials have wrestled with how to rebuild the nation’s emergency networks. Nine years later, that effort has reached a showdown between the FCC and public safety officials, reports the New York Times. The FCC is seeking to auction off a block of wireless broadband spectrum to the private sector, but public safety officials say the additional space on the public airwaves should be used instead for a dedicated emergency broadband network. With commercial wireless companies preparing to build the next generation of wireless communication networks, the resolution of the debate will determine whether public safety officials will be able to use the latest technology in emergencies. The two sides will face off on June 17 at a hearing before the House telecommunications subcommittee, which is considering legislation to pay for a public safety network. Over the last year, the disagreements over how to accomplish the goal have intensified. Attorney General Eric Holder said last October that he believed the new wireless spectrum should be turned over to public safety officials for a dedicated network. But the FCC has said auctioning the spectrum is a priority. On June 15, the agency released a technical white paper saying that police and fire departments could construct a better communications network at lower cost by using airwaves already dedicated to public safety use, supplemented by the right to take over commercial networks in an emergency…

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FCC aims to measure home broadband speeds

The Federal Communications Commission wants to find out whether broadband providers are delivering internet connections that are as fast as advertised, reports the Associated Press—and so the agency is seeking 10,000 volunteers to take part in a study of residential broadband speeds. Specialized equipment will be installed in homes across the country to measure internet connections. Those results then will be compared with advertised speeds. The agency hopes to get a cross section of volunteers who subscribe to broadband services provided by a range of phone and cable TV companies. The new project grows out of several proposals outlined in the FCC’s national broadband plan, released in March. “The big issue here is knowing what you are paying for,” said Joel Gurin, who heads the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. According to data cited in the national broadband plan, average residential download speeds are typically only half as fast as the maximum speeds advertised by U.S. broadband providers. The FCC will summarize its findings on home broadband connections in a report later this year. The commission also is seeking input on ways to measure mobile broadband speeds. Broadband subscribers who want to participate in the FCC’s new study can register at www.TestMyISP.com

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