A limited survey of residential broadband service models. Steven Bauer Advanced Network Architecture MIT

Transcription

1 A limited survey of residential broadband service models Steven Bauer Advanced Network Architecture MIT

2 Service models for general Internet traffic Survey focus

3 Survey purpose Identify trends in residential broadband service offerings Identify novel broadband service models Focus on service models for general network traffic Discover most of the bellwether broadband service models

4 Survey scope Broadband providers sampled in following categories (with the intended focus on largest carriers or those providing novel service models) Cable DSL Fiber Satellite Fixed wireless Cellular data services Many United States providers were examined Hopefully found most of the interesting service models around the global

5 General trends identified Increasing diversity in broadband service offerings Suggests lots of experimentation but no definitively right model Suggests diverse consumer demand for broadband services Suggests a growing sophistication of broadband customers Cellular broadband service models are very different from wired broadband service models Interesting that cellular plans have a restrictive or expensive usage component that customers (somewhat) accept Wireless and satellite broadband service models Suggests that when provider costs dictate and customers don t have any other option, usage limitations or additional charges are accepted

6 Wired broadband service model trends Great diversity of broadband service offerings exists Many dimensions in which service offerings differ Focus on: Differences in how network traffic is treated Usage limitations/usage charging Broadband providers have different ways of differentiating usage: Upload/download speeds Traffic destinations On-network/off-network Local/International Application or service Time of day Usage limitations are common Unstated usage limitations (common) Port blocking Bandwidth shaping Out-of-band communication of AUP violations Explicit usage limitations (rare in some countries, common in others) Download and upload transfer limits Excess usage charges Compulsory degradation in service

7 Consumer view usage caps unfavorably in the United States Source: Jupiter Research/Ipsos-NPD Consumer Survey (5/03), n = 605 (broadband users, US only) 2003 Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation

8 Usage limits clearly exist even if Comcast AUP violation letters notify customers of excess usage Customers dropped from service if they don t appropriately modify their usage within the next month not stated

9 Traffic shaping of broadband usage No data available on how widely deployed traffic shaping is for broadband traffic Sandvine claims their product is deployed at 60 large broadband providers

10 Explicit usage limitations in United States Provider Plan Name Bandwidth Price/ Month Usage Limit Cox Communications Preferred Package 4mbps/512kbps GB/10GB Cox Communications Premier Package 5mbps/768kbps GB/15GB Cox Communications Value Plan 256kbps/256kbps 4GB/1GB Cox Communications only large provider in the United States to explicitly define usage limits

11 Additional usage fees: Bigpond Broadband Cable (Australia) Monthly Plan (down/up) Additional usage Plan Name Usage Allowance Uncapped/128k bps (Cents/MB after allowance) Ideal for 200MB Cable 200MB $29.95 $0.15 per MB Light use or exploring Cable 500MB Cable 500MB $49.95 $0.15 per MB Regular, superfast usage Unlimited* Cable Unlimited* $59.95 N/a Intensive, superfast access 20GB Cable 20GB $99.95 $0.15 per MB High-power professional web applications * Speeds may be slowed to 64 kbps after 10GB. Service may not be used for unauthorized purposes as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy. Includes unlimited uploads.

12 Compulsory service degradations: Optus Broadband (Australia) Plan Name Bandwidth Price/ month Usage Limit Target Basic 200MB 256/64kbps $ MB Always on, low usage customers Starter Plus 400MB 512/128kbps $ MB Surfers, , shopping, banking Value 1G 512/128kbps $ GB Gamers Unlimited 512/128kbps $69.95 unlimited Serious Internet users Unlimited Pro 512/128kbps $99.95 unlimited Ultimate users * Speed limiting applies after 12GB on the Unlimited plan and 20GB on the Unlimited Pro plan. Speeds slowed to 28.8kbps for remainder of the month for excess usage.

13 Pay-as-you-go broadband: PAYGoDSL (UK) Simple usage pricing schedule Usage pricing schedule clearly stated and accessible to customers

14 Pay-as-you-go broadband: Lixuss (UK) More complicated usage pricing Usage price information is buried in the FAQ Usage charges are from 0.05 per MB of traffic and depend on how much bandwidth you use. As a general rule, bandwidth becomes cheaper the more you use.

15 Differentiating traffic usage based on destination Company Country Speed Price USD/month Usage limitations Siminn Iceland 256/128kbps $47.91 Unlimited Domestic / 100MB International Portugal Telecom Portugal 512/128kbps $ GB Domestic / 2GB International

16 Differentiating traffic usage based on time of day Company Country Speed Price USD/month Usage limitations Inode Austria 1mbps/512kbps $ GB/ Unlimited in off-peak hours Inode Austria 2mbps/512kbps $ GB/ Unlimited in off-peak hours Unlimited at off-peak time between 9 p.m.-7 a.m.

17 A global sample of high speed broadband Company Country Speed Price USD/ month Usen Japan 100mbps (individual) $50.00 KDDI Japan 100mbps (shared) $25.00 Hanaro Korea 10mbps $30.00 Bostream Sweden 26mbps $48.00

18 Is access link speed indicative of end-to-end performance? FAQ Verizon Fios Internet Service (15/2mbps, $49.95/month) Bandwidth speeds are between your home or office and the Verizon central office serving your location. Actual throughput speed will vary based on factors such as the condition of your wiring inside your location; computer configuration; network or Internet congestion; and the server speeds of Web sites you access, among other factors. Provisioning of the backhaul is the key determinate of the end-toend performance for nonlocal applications and services No data on end-to-end performance experience

19 Who gets to exploit the inherent shareability of broadband connections? Company Country Speed Price per building USD/month TeliaSonera Finland 2mbps/256kbps $46.41 TeliaSonera Finland 2mbps/512kbps $46.41 Elisa Finland 1mbps/256kbps $46.41 Incumbents resisted allowing one MDU building to share a DSL line but the practice was determined to be legal Incumbents now have their own building DSL plans Sharing among 6 customers in a building makes the per-customer price around $8.00/month

20 Explicitly shaping broadband traffic Directway Fair Access Policy (FAP) $59.95/month with $579 installation and hardware fee $99.99/month with $99 installation and hardware fee (for the first year, the $59.95/month) Peak usage threshold 169 MB over 1-4 hours Offpeak usage threshold 225 MB over 1-4 hours Downgraded to dialup speeds for 8-12 hours if threshold exceeded (Surprising) but other satellite providers did not appear to explicitly define usage limits

21 Unique broadband service models Broadband Flex VTR, one of the main Chilean broadband Users select connection speed every time they log onto the network includes a pay as you go pricing model Eclipse FLEX Broadband UK broadband provider Customers select speed at company website Once chosen the connection speed adjusts immediately to the new speed. Customers are charged on a per-hour basis until "flex back down Videotron s "Speed On Demand" Canadian MSO For between $2.99 and $4.99 customers can advance to higher tier of service for two days at a time (current tiers are 128kbps, 3mbps, and 4mbps) Perhaps developed to target weekend users

22 Conclusions Lots of experimentation with service models but no clear winners When costs dictate, usage limitations or charges are inescapable Many different ways of differentiating and managing/charging for usage are being tried OECD resource for comparison of broadband speeds and prices for