Zero-Rating Plans are a Serious Threat to the Open Internet: US advocacy letter

Zero-Rating Plans are a Serious Threat to the Open Internet: "In every case, websites that have not negotiated with a particular ISP now face new barriers to reaching that ISP’s Internet users. These practices distort competition, stifle innovation, limit user choice, harm free speech, and drive up prices. In their current iterations, each of these plans run afoul of both the spirit of net neutrality and of the Open Internet rules. Without action from the FCC, zero­-rating plans will continue to expand, and ISPs will continue to seek out ways to monetize capped broadband service at the expense of an open Internet and the communities that rely on it. We urge the FCC to respond to the proliferation of these plans, fulfill its mandate to protect Internet users, and enforce its Open Internet rules." 'via Blog this'

Evidence-free assertions by Ed Vaizey to Parliament on Digital Economy: 22 March 2016

Oral evidence - The Digital Economy - 22 Mar 2016: "I cannot necessarily give you specific examples of where we have been successful, although in the past, for example, we introduced a code of conduct for net neutrality that was very successful.

             

I have said for many years, as a mindset and a matter of principle, that self-regulation in this area is a profitable route for two reasons, and they are linked. One is that the landscape moves so quickly that by the time you have gone through the rigmarole of formal regulation, consultation and so on, which can be very time-consuming, you could well be out of date. Secondly, if you work with the technology providers, you set yourself the goal of the outcome you want to see and you can reach conclusions very quickly. That is a good thing." 'via Blog this'

Iceland: on the path to Net Neutrality?

Iceland: on the path to Net Neutrality - Access Now: "As we note in our testimony for the Althingi, the result is “baseline Net Neutrality regulations for the EU,” but “vagueness remains in the text and can lead to misinterpretation.” There remain unresolved issues that will need to addressed by BEREC, the body of European telecoms regulators. Access Now presented a report to BEREC in November, and the finalised guidelines are to be published in August." 'via Blog this'

Merger control and mobile phone operators, or the limits of competition law and sector-specific reg

Merger control and mobile phone operators, or the limits of competition law and sector-specific regulation | Chillin'Competition: "I can think of many reasons why mobile operators are merging. Some of these reasons have to do with the regulatory choices made by authorities and legislators – there are no free lunches, and the obsession with net neutrality certainly does not come for free. The impression I have from the wave of ‘four to three’ mergers is that the process of consolidation in the industry is... " 'via Blog this'

Akamai Releases Q4 2015 State of the Internet Report

Akamai Releases Fourth Quarter 2015 State of the Internet Report | Akamai: "The global percentage of unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai that met the 4 Mbps broadband speed threshold increased 5.8% to 69%. Year-over-year growth was 17%.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, 32% of unique IP addresses across the world connected to Akamai at average speeds above 10 Mbps, an increase of 15% over the previous quarter. Year-over-year, this was a 34% increase.

19% percent of unique global IP addresses connected to Akamai at average “4K-ready” connection speeds of 15 Mbps or above, up from 15% in the third quarter.

Year-over-year, the global 15 Mbps adoption rate grew 54% with nine of the top 10 countries/regions seeing gains ranging from 3.3% in South Korea (63% adoption) to 102% in Norway (45% adoption)." 'via Blog this'

Ofcom releases SamKnows speed data for Nov2015

Full details here "In November 2015, forty two per cent of residential fixed broadband lines were superfast products (connections with a headline speed of 'up to' 30Mbit/s or more). This represents an increase of nine percentage points compared to a year previously. The proportion of lines with a headline speed of 'up to' 10Mbit/s or higher increased by two percentage points to 93% over this period.

Our latest panel research shows that the average actual UK residential fixed broadband download speed increased from 22.8Mbit/s in November 2014 to 28.9Mbit/s in November 2015. The 27% rise in the average UK download speed was due to growing take-up of higher-speed connections and increasing average speeds for these packages. Our research shows that the average actual speed of superfast products was 56.8Mbit/s in November 2015, a 6.4Mbit/s (13%) increase compared to a year previously. This was mainly due to cable broadband users migrating onto higher-speed packages. 61% of UK fixed broadband connections had an average actual download speed of 10Mbit/s or faster in November 2015 up from 56% in 2014. Whereas connections delivering average speeds of 30Mbit/s or higher rose from 30% to 38%."

Shine, but not rise - ad blocking and net neutrality

Shine, but not rise | The Economist: "Three is planning to let subscribers opt into its ad-blocking service, which is based on technology developed by Shine, an Israeli startup. But that may still run afoul of “network neutrality” rules, which require that all sorts of online traffic, including ads, should be treated equally. To be on the safe side, the service is likely to be offered directly through Shine.

Three has given itself a few months to figure it all out. Other carriers are likely to wait and see how Three’s ad-blocking efforts fare." 'via Blog this'