Category Archives: Bandwidth Management

May 30 2012

Dutch Politicians Want To Push Commissioner Kroes To Guarantee Net Neutrality In Europe

Kroes discovered that European ISPs are happily throttling, blocking and using Deep Packet Inspection, sometimes affecting even 95% of internet users in a single country.

The fact that Kroes now only wants Internet Service Providers to be more transparent about their practices and will not take any additional measures probably means that:

1. Kroes realizes that bandwidth management, filtering and blocking measures are needed because the internet infrastructure cannot accommodate just everyone anyway;

2. Differentiation between services and having data distributors pay for access to the infrastructure can be a nice cash cow (content vs infrastructure) much similar to how cable providers are making money.

All of this puts the recent speech of Neelie Kroes in an entirely different perspective:

Now we need to find solutions to make the Internet a place of freedom, openness, and innovation fit for all citizens, not just for the techno avant-garde.

What can freedom online give us?

For one thing, a huge economic boost. An open Internet can power innovation, surge productivity. And can put innovation tools into the hands of ordinary, enterprising people.

That’s why I’m convinced web entrepreneurs are the key to our future growth. And I want to make sure they have the tools to innovate.

Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2822881/dwing-netneutraliteit-af-in-europese-regels.html

and:

EU Report Reveals P2P Traffic Interference By ISPs
http://torrentfreak.com/eu-report-reveals-p2p-traffic-interference-by-isps-120530/

May 30 2012

European Commission Pledges to Stiffen ISP Net Neutrality Rules

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/05/european-commission-pledges-to-stiffen-net-neutrality-rules-for-isps.html

See also:

Study: A view of traffic management and other practices resulting in restrictions to the open Internet in Europe
http://vrritti.com/2012/05/30/study-a-view-of-traffic-management-and-other-practices-resulting-in-restrictions-to-the-open-internet-in-europe/

May 30 2012

Study: A view of traffic management and other practices resulting in restrictions to the open Internet in Europe

Findings from BEREC’s and the European Commission’s joint investigation

Commissioner Neelie Kroes:

BEREC has today provided the data I was waiting for. For most Europeans, their Internet access works well most of the time. But these findings show the need for more regulatory certainty and that there are enough problems to warrant strong and targeted action to safeguard consumers.

For the first time we know that at least 20%, and potentially up to half of EU mobile broadband users have contracts that allow their Internet service provider (ISP) to restrict services like VOIP (e.g. Skype) or peer-to-peer file sharing.

Around 20% of fixed operators (spread across virtually all EU member states) apply restrictions such as to limit peer-to-peer volumes at peak times. This can affect up to 95% of users in a country.

At the same time, in nearly all Member States, most if not all ISPs offer fixed and mobile Internet access services that are not subject to such restrictions. According to the BEREC figures 85% of all fixed ISPs and 76% of all mobile ISPs propose at least one unrestricted offer. So the market is generally providing choice, but in some countries the choices are quite limited in some EU countries.

But are customers really empowered to choose well? Do they realise what they are signing up for? I didn’t read all the pages in my mobile contract and I bet you didn’t either! I believe we all need more transparent information.

Given that BEREC’s findings highlight a problem of effective consumer choice, I will prepare recommendations to generate more real choices and end the net neutrality waiting game in Europe.

First, consumers need clear information on actual, real-life broadband speeds. Not just the speed at 3 am, but the speed at peak times. The upload as well as the download speed. The minimum speed, if applicable. And the speed you’ll get when you’re also watching IPTV as part of your triple-play bundle, or downloading a video on demand via a premium “managed” service. Plus, you should know what those advertised speeds typically allow you to do online

Second, consumers also need clear information on the limits of what they are paying for. Clear, quantified data ceilings are much better than vague “fair use” policies that leave too much discretion to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They allow low-volume users to look for deals that suit them. And they incentivise ISPs to price data volumes in ways that reflect costs, and so support investment in modernising networks as traditional voice revenues decline.

Third, consumers also need to know if they are getting Champagne or lesser sparkling wine. If it is not full Internet, it shouldn’t be marketed as such; perhaps it shouldn’t be marketed as “Internet” at all, at least not without any upfront qualification. Regulators should have that kind of control over how ISPs market the service.

More:
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/netneutrality/

See also:

Study: A view of traffic management and other practices resulting in restrictions to the open Internet in Europe
http://erg.eu.int/doc/consult/bor_12_30_tm-i_snapshot.pdf

May 25 2012

BitTorrent traffic is now responsible for 11.3% of all U.S. Internet traffic during peak hours, compared to 17.3% last year

In Europe for example, BitTorrent traffic still accounts for 20.32% of all Internet traffic during peak hours, while eDonkey adds another 9.39% to the P2P total. During the last 18 months the share of P2P traffic nearly quadrupled, and this increase is even larger in absolute traffic.

According to Sandvine, the absence of legal alternatives is one of the reasons for these high P2P traffic shares.

“We see higher levels of P2P filesharing than in many other regions, at least partially due to geographical licensing challenges that restrict the availability of legitimate Real-Time Entertainment services.”

In the U.S. on the other hand, the availability of legal content has flourished in recent years. To illustrate this, Sandvine reports that one-third (32.9%) of all downstream traffic during peak hours is now generated by Netflix subscribers. In addition, Hulu has doubled its share in the last year to 1.8%.

The above seems to suggest that due to these alternatives, people are less inclined to pirate.

The MPAA is slowly starting to realize that consumers are not all out to steal content, they simply want to consume.

“I believe it’s critical to find solutions to the challenges facing both these consumers and the people who create the content. Because at the end of the day, this discussion is about consumers and by consumers who love TV shows and movies. They want to be able to access them quickly and safely online,” the MPAA’s Marc Miller wrote yesterday.

More:
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-traffic-booms-due-to-licensing-challenges-120524/

May 1 2012

Akamai Study Finds UK Average Broadband Speeds Fell to 4.9Mbps in 2011

The CDN admits the fall in internet speed was both “unusual, and fairly significant“, before adding that it didn’t know what caused the decline. Apparently 93 countries/regions that qualified for inclusion into Akamai’s results saw average connection speeds decline, ranging from a loss of just 0.3% in Kyrgyzstan to a 31% drop in Kuwait.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/04/akamai-study-finds-uk-average-broadband-speeds-fell-to-4-9mbps-in-2011.html

Apr 30 2012

Why bandwidth caps could be a threat to competition

Next article should address the following question: why are internet users still not allowed to upload at a decent speed?

Network providers insist that they are simply trying to cope with rapidly rising demand for bandwidth. But critics charge that the trend toward bandwidth caps is driven by more sinister motives, especially in the residential broadband market. In this story we’ll examine the economics of metering and try to explain why it has suddenly come back into vogue.

One of the first online services to offer a flat-rate option was AT&T’s WorldNet. Tom Evslin, who was running WorldNet at the time, reports that customers would typically switch to the $19.95 flat-rate option when their monthly charges reached about $12 per month. And surprisingly, “their usage (as measured by time online) did not increase, so they were simply paying extra to satisfy their preference.” The flat-rate plan was a win-win deal for both AT&T and its customers.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/04/why-we-should-worry-about-the-decline-of-the-unmetered-internet.ars

Apr 23 2012

UK ISP Fluidata Prepares Network to Cope with Olympic Games Data Surge

Our customers typically also have demand for high bandwidth as well as uptime, so capacity is carefully engineered with low thresholds set to trigger upgrades. On our DSL platforms routers are kept at no more than 30% usage during peak hours, with average across the network typically 15-20%. This ensures that traffic re-routed during a failure can be absorbed at other sites with ease.

In preparation for the Olympics we are operating with peak backbone usage typically between 5 & 10% and have plumbed in an additional 40 Gb/s of Internet transit routing capacity – enough to comfortably serve huge customer demands whilst being able to also cushion large DoS attacks.

More:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/04/uk-isp-fluidata-prepares-network-to-cope-with-olympic-games-data-surge.html

Apr 7 2012

Virgin Media Business Warns of Bottomless Pit for Mobile Data Use

Virgin Media Business has warned that UK Mobile Broadband operators are facing a “bottomless pit” as they attempt to adapt to rising levels of data usage, which has increased by 250% over the past two years alone, especially with superfast “4G” services being just around the corner.

The operator states that much of this demand is coming from popular video streaming apps (iPlayer and YouTube), which now come as standard on 83% of handsets, and by 2015 it’s estimated people will be using thirty times more mobile data than they were in 2009.

More:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/04/virgin-media-business-warns-of-bottomless-pit-for-mobile-data-use.html

Apr 4 2012

Virgin Media has introduced new throttling “trigger levels” for customers who make heavy use of its network

It classified a so-called “bandwidth hog” as a 60Mbit/s customer, for example, who can download 5,000MB of data between 4pm and 9pm on a weekday before having their broadband connection throttled.

“During this time that customer would have to download 7 standard definition movies or 1,250 songs before a 5-hour temporary speed reduction was applied, and even then they can of course continue to browse the web and use services like the iPlayer without interruption,” Virgin Media explained.

A company spokesman told The Register that around 5 per cent of users would be affected by the STM policy. Those punters can expect to see their speed usage of the network temporarily throttled by 50 per cent.

Virgin Media runs two different types of traffic management: the aforementioned STM and protocol shaping, which affects all tiers of subscribers during peak hours.

More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/03/virgin_media_network_throttling/

Mar 20 2012

Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation Maxime Verhagen Wants To Prohibit Future BitTorrent Protocol Blockades And Argues That Complaints By Rights Owners Are No Valid Reason For Protocol Blocking

Will also make the necessary changes to the Dutch Telecom legislation, making sure that University Computer Centers can be labeled as internet service providers. That will force those centers to act in compliance with the Dutch Telecom Law. The required legislative changes can theoretically be implemented as of next month.

Verhagen points out that in the future, internet traffic can only be blocked on the basis of a Court order.

Dutch language news articles:
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/80774/minister-torrentblokkade-universiteit-groningen-houdt-geen-stand.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxime_Verhagen

Previously:
http://vrritti.com/2012/02/24/dutch-university-of-groningen-to-block-bittorrent-protocol-no-judge-needed/

Mar 20 2012

Dutch Telecom Regulator OPTA Needs Dutch Internet Service Providers To Be More Transparent

About quality and speed of the lines, net neutrality, bandwidth management, blocking, pricing models, network security and privacy related issues

Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2767127/toezichthouder-eist-transparantie-van-providers.html

Mar 13 2012

Massive Use Of Deep Packet Inspection By European Telcom Operators. They’re Blocking, Throttling And Capping All Day Long

So much for net neutrality, freedom of information, freedom of innovation, freedom of speech. Lots of freedom of entrepreneurship though…

Highlights of BEREC report:

  • BEREC preliminary findings on traffic management practices in Europe show that blocking of VoIP and P2P traffic is common, other practices vary widely 
  • The most frequently reported traffic management practices are the blocking and/or throttling of peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic, on both fixed and mobile networks, and the blocking of Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic (mostly on mobile networks, usually based on specific contract terms). When blocking/throttling is implemented in the network, it is typically done through deep packet inspection (DPI)
  • Beyond this, BEREC has found a very wide range of practices across Europe, and an equally wide range of implementation methods and policy justifications for them
  • BEREC also found a wide variety of data caps and “fair use” practices – these were not the main focus of its investigation, since (with some exceptions) in general they do not imply differentiated treatment of traffic

 

Mar 9 2012

The Pirate Bay: 30 percent less bandwidth costs, having switched to magnet links

Advertising revenue most likely unaffected

“We now use 30 percent less bandwidth, but the number of visitors to the site remains the same”

The drop is even more impressive, approximately 60 percent, when the Pirate Bay’s RSS-feed is excluded. Of all bandwidth generated by the popular file-sharing site today nearly half comes from the RSS feed.

But there are not only upsides to a torrent-less Pirate Bay. Large groups of users have experienced problems when trying to overcome the minor annoyances that magnets bring with them.

http://torrentfreak.com/torrent-less-pirate-bay-sees-massive-drop-in-bandwith-120308/

Feb 27 2012

Point Topic Begins Major Digital Agenda Mapping Survey of EU Broadband Cover

Analyst firm Point Topic has today joined with the European Commission (EC) to launch “the most detailed broadband coverage mapping survey ever made across Europe,” which will be used to monitor any progress by telecoms operators towards the EU’s Digital Agenda goals.

Europe’s Digital Agenda project seeks to deliver “basic” and “competitively-priced” broadband internet access to all Europeans by 2013. But most importantly it aims for everybody within the EU to have access to superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps+ by 2020 (with 50% or more households subscribing to an internet connection of 100Mbps+).

More:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2012/02/27/point-topic-begins-major-digital-agenda-mapping-survey-of-eu-broadband-cover.html

Jan 23 2012

DOSarrest are specialists in stopping DDoS and DoS attacks of all varieties

This is our sole purpose, and our anti DDoS network is built to handle the largest and most complex attacks.

We service websites representing the following industries: pharmaceuticals, gaming, online payment processing, music downloads, software sales/distribution and numerous large brand name E-commerce sites.

We do not filter based on geography or other methods that filter out large blocks of IP address space. Our proprietary techniques only block malicious IP addresses, on an IP by IP instance and on a continuous basis. This ensures zero false positives.

Most other DDoS mitigation services only have a proxy component. DOSarrest has both proxy and caching components. This means that should you have a massive burst of legitimate traffic, our system is always ready for it. In essence the system acts as a CDN as well, able to distribute massive amounts of content to legitimate users. All this is done without any stress on your server.

http://www.dosarrest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=40

Jan 21 2012

Report Claims ISPs in 14 EU States Impose Unfair Internet Access Restrictions

ISPs that account for the majority of the EU population have been found to violate “their users’ freedom of communication by blocking or throttling specific content, applications or services available on the Internet“.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2012/01/21/report-claims-isps-in-14-eu-states-impose-unfair-internet-access-restrictions.html