NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] BT Heavily Throttling BBC, All Video
----- Forwarded message from David Farber <dave@farber.net> -----
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:57:22 -0400
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Subject: [IP] BT Heavily Throttling BBC, All Video
Reply-To: dave@farber.net
To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
[ Let's be clear, that's apparently not ALL video being throttled,
only competitive Internet video. The carriers' own video
offerings, we can certainly assume in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, are not being throttled or restrained in any
way. Duh.
-- Lauren Weinstein
NNSquad Moderator ]
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dave Burstein <daveb@dslprime.com>
Date: June 12, 2009 9:12:31 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: BT Heavily Throttling BBC, All Video
Folks
I think this is the big one, especially since OFCOM's Ed Richards has been
encouraging them. My story below has been sent to them for factchecking and
no corrections came back.
Tim Bradshaw at FT just broke a major story, the first "net neutrality"
challenge that may seriously affect people watching online video. The
Comcast and other disputes were about symbol and precedents, and the actual
throttling was almost trivial. This is a major carrier whose video lead has
just resigned under fire (below) because they aren't getting enough
customers, and is actively cutting competitive video down to half the usual
bit rate while Hulu and others are increasing quality. They lost $2B on
Global Services and just cut another 15,000 employees, so they are
scrambling for revenue wherever they can get it, My sources are clear
that's because of business, not technical or costs issues with likely
Internet video usage. I have on the record senior people from AT&T,
Verizon, Comcast, MIT and BT itself (below)
BT seeks to end 'free ride' by video websites
By Tim Bradshaw, Digital Media Correspondent
Published: June 11 2009 03:00 | Last updated: June 11 2009 03:00
BT has called for an end to the "free ride" it says video websites such as
the BBC iPlayer and YouTube enjoy on its network.
The telecoms group, which was accused last week of "throttling" iPlayer
performance at peak times, spoke publicly for the first time yesterday
about how it hoped to charge content owners for delivery of their
programmes over its broadband network.
"We can't give the content providers a completely free ride and continue to
give customers the [service] they want at the price they expect," said John
Petter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer business.
... Last week, the BBC reported that BT broadband "cuts the speed users can
watch video services like the BBC iPlayer and YouTube at peak times", and
that the BBC was "concerned the throttling of download speeds was affecting
the viewing experience for some users".
Under the "fair use" policy of BT's Option 1 broadband package, BT says it
cuts video streaming from 8 megabits per second down to 896 kilobits per
second between 5pm and midnight, which BT said was sufficient to watch
iPlayer.
---- Here's my report including some BT comments last fall that contradict
the claims, and some news for context.
This is the first really big challenge on net neutrality. Comcast and
others were about precedents but the actual harm was minor.
BT_boothLondon: British Telecom's John Petter tells FT they throttle “8
megabits per second customers down to 896 kilobits per second between 5pm
and midnight,” and adding that's fine for the BBC iPlayer. That is not so.
It is far below standard TV quality and half the speed of the typical U.S.
network's Internet feed. (ABC was streaming at 1.9 megabits last I heard.
AT&T's U-Verse standard definition TV was 2.1 megabits last time they spoke
publicly.) Britons are rapidly moving to HD, as are video providers over
the net at even higher speeds.
His other claim, that video traffic growth is driving up BT's costs so
much they must charge extra, is unsupported. Cisco has just done a major
report that finds a slight decrease in the rate of Internet traffic growth,
confirming my reporting. While hard to handle video demand is possible in
theory, I sally_davis_btreported in September from the CEO of BT Wholesale
Davis' network is ready for video
BT does not need to charge extra for access for the iPlayer. Sally Davis,
CEO BT Wholesale, confirms she was misquoted about restricting access.
They've solved any congestion problems. ... The local loop isn't shared so
unlike cable has no problem. The fiber backhaul behind the DSLAM can be
upgraded at modest cost, less than 2% of the service price. Almost all
traffic is inexpensively peered, so there's no transit cost.
Result: BT, AT&T and almost large carriers can easily meet any plausible
demand.
I was also delighted to report from BT their rates – and actual costs – for
bandwidth are dropping.
BT Cutting High Volume Backhaul Rates in Half
The new BT backhaul is "approximately 50 per cent cheaper," Anna Easton of
Openreach writes me. Gig-E's for under $2,000 as costs go down. ...
Something is profoundly wrong in the British market. Cross the Atlantic or
the Channel, and DSL carriers just don't have the same problems, even
though their bandwidth demands continuing growing at 30-40% per year per
subscriber. Everyone from Verizon to Free.fr to NTT are not having cost or
congestion problems, with an effective bandwidth cost of 1-4% of the price
they charge the subscriber.
The reality is that while increased video use is driving traffic growth,
the cost of the routers, Internet peering/transit etc. is going down about
as fast. The cost per customer of bandwidth has been about flat for several
years, about $1/month/customer at a carrier like BT. That's 2-5 % of what
BT and most others charge consumers for broadband.
Saul Hansell in the NY Times researched these costs extensively, including
experts in Britain. In an important set of articles, he made clear this is
about higher carrier profits and preventing competitive video, not serious
pressure from higher traffic costs.
http://fastnetnews.com/dslprime/42-d/1758-bt-heavily-throttling-bbc-all-video
BT pay-TV boss walks
Rapid tv news - Jun 10, 2009
Dan Marks, the highly-regarded CEO of BT Vision, the pay television
division of British Telecom, has quit, citing his “frustration” over
BSkyB's dominance ...
BT posts huge 4Q loss, to cut 15000 more jobs
The Associated Press - May 14, 2009
LONDON (AP) Telecommunications company BT Group PLC said Thursday it
expects to cut another 15000 jobs in the next year after its Global
Services division ...
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