[Chapter-delegates] Enforcing access "speed" on ISPs

Wed Mar 9 00:58:54 PST 2011

Hi 

as a follow-up to my previous e-mail on the subject, I thought you might find the data in this presentation from an EC official, fairly interesting (this is a pure regulatory perspective but nevertheless provides some interesting comparison between EU countries)


Best Regards
Frederic

Frederic Donck
Director European Regional Bureau
Internet Society

www.isoc.org


Le 8 mars 2011 à 12:32, Frederic Donck a écrit :

> Dear Tommi and Marcin
> 
> Thanks for this very interesting exchange.
> Let me add some additional info at EU level, which I hope you will find useful
> As you might know it, the European Commission recently published a guidance document on the inclusion of broadband in the scope of the universal service obligation (USO) in the context of the amended Universal Service Directive.(here)
> 
> In short, there should be more flexibility for European member states – but within limits
> As under the current USO Directive, article 4 of the amended directive covers “functional internet access” as part of the basic USO, that is, the provision of access at a fixed location. Both the current and amended versions say that
> 
> “... the connection provided shall be capable of supporting [voice and fax services] and data communications at data rates that are sufficient to permit functional Internet access, taking into account prevailing technologies used by the majority of subscribers and technological feasibility”.
> 
> But whereas the recitals of the current directive explicitly refer to narrowband connections, recital 5 of the directive amending the current USO Directive (i.e. the Citizens’ Rights Directive) gives member states more flexibility to include broadband in the USO scope, provided that they take
> 
> “... due account of specific circumstances in national markets, for instance the prevailing bandwidth used by the majority of subscribers in that Member State, and technological feasibility, provided that these measures seek to minimise market distortion” .
> 
> 
> Last but not least, In May 2010, EU commission published its 5 years plan for the digital economy (DIgital agenda for Europe) and although it does *not* define a speed for basic broadband, Commissioner Kroes always referred to the "huge investment that would be needed to secure 1 Mbps coverage at an affordable price for all households in Europe". That is of course 'just' a political statement (not legally mandatory) but is a good indication of the next steps which the European may want to discuss with governments.
> 
> As already noted, Finland is-so far- the only country in EU that already included broadband at 1 Mbps in the USO scope in August 2010. 
> Beyond Poland (Thanks Marcin for the fresh info!) I understand that other European countries as Malta, Romania, Spain and Sweden are considering similar initiatives.
> 
> Could anyone confirm this and provide additional information?
> 
> thanks
> Best Regards
> Frederic
> 
> Frederic Donck
> Director European Regional Bureau
> Internet Society
> 
> www.isoc.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Le 8 mars 2011 à 11:36, Tommi Karttaavi a écrit :
> 
>> Dear Marcin, all,
>> 
>> I guess the "similar scheme in Finland" refers to the section about the universal service obligation, under the Communications Market Act (393/2003).
>> 
>> Section 67f/2: "Provisions on the minimum rate of a functional Internet access referred to above in subsection 2 are issued by a decree of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Prior to the issuance of the decree, the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority shall examine the data transfer service markets, prevailing access rates available to the majority of subscribers and level of technological development, and estimate the financial impacts of the regulation on telecommunications operators"
>> 
>> The decree mentioned in the law has been in effect since Aug 1, 2010 and states that the minimum rate of a functional Internet access is 1 Mbit/s (downstream).
>> 
>> The degree also says that the average minimum rate downstream is 750 kbits/s within a 24 hour period and 500 kbit/s within any 4 hour period.
>> 
>> This is the same law that was in the news last year that was said to make Internet connection a fundamental right in Finland.
>> 
>> The law in English:
>> http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2003/en20030393.pdf
>> 
>> The decree in Finnish:
>> http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2009/20090732
>> 
>> I'm copying this message to the Board of ISOC Finland in case someone can give more information or wants to comment.
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> 
>> Tommi
>> 
>> On 7.3.2011 1:45, Marcin Cieslak wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> 
>>> Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (which is sometimes dealing
>>> with telecommunications, independently of the telecom operator body)
>>> wants to implement some kind of tougher enforcement of the connection
>>> parameters of the Internet connection offered
>>> by the ISP.
>>> 
>>> They plan to introduce a rule that the "minimal connection speed
>>> should not be lower than 90% of the contractual or advertized
>>> connection speed".
>>> 
>>> This poses numerous problems, including things like, definition
>>> of "connection speed", from where to where it is measured,
>>> ignoring isses like latency or etc.
>>> 
>>> On the other hand there is a general opinion that mobile
>>> operators usually overstate capabilities of their
>>> networks (HSDPA access "up to 7.2Mbit/s" and so on).
>>> 
>>> There was one opinion expressed, that "similar scheme
>>> works in Finland".
>>> 
>>> Does anyone know any attempts to regulate access speeds
>>> this way in Finland or somewhere else, what kind of metrics
>>> do they build on, and how does this look in practice?
>>> 
>>> //Marcin
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Chapter-delegates mailing list
>>> Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
>>> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
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> 
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