Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Net neutrality in Singapore

CNA published that local telco's are not in support to publish the "average speeds" but prefer to use "max speeds".  While I tend to agree with the argument that it's quite difficult to provide average speeds in an objective manner I am surprised to see the replies from our three telco's. The way they responded gives me a very bad impression on them.

They say the market is highly competitive, they are transparent, they don't block or discriminate unwanted traffic & IDA should spend tax payers money to educate Customers so they won't complain (then result in more profits to TELCO's because even 100Mbps plan can give 1Kbps and Customer is 'educated' to accept it).

The new entrant Super internet reply is not that detailed by they shared the fact that the international bandwidth for 100Mbps costs $3,000+ and residential charges by ISP's are less than 100 so there is no way end customer can get 100Mbps from US. This answer is quite straight forward.

Anyways there are multitude of factors that an end customer cannot get the speed he/she is subscribed to. If it's wired broadband,

* PC/Notebook issues
* Home wi-fi coverage issues
* Home wiring issues (like powerline etc)
* Last mile cabling issues
* ISP Servers/Routers congestion
* ISP uplink congestion
* International issues (e.g. submarine cable failure etc)

Wireless broadband or Mobile broadband the issues are similar but on top of it being a shared network,

* Number of people using the specific base station.

But all of the issues does have a solution. This is to invest more in the network. Today our TELCO's margins are in very healthy ranges (here). If they want to accept lower margins they can invest in the network. Also they can invest in removing process wastage so they can reduce their operating costs. Anyway i'll wait for IDA decision and meanwhile, I've pasted the replies from our three telco's + super internet (because these guys are the first one's in NG-NBN)


SingTel
Furthermore, SingTel submits that bespoke regulation in the Internet services market in Singapore is necessary for the following reason:

- The Internet services market is highly competitive in Singapore;
- Existing  levels  of  regulation  are  sufficient  to  address  potential  anti-competitive conduct;
- Services  providers  should  be  free  to  manage  the  efficiency  of  their  networks, improve customer experience and innovate to facilitate high-quality applications;
- SingTel  complies  with  prevailing  to  publish  service  information  and  network management practices; and
- SingTel  already  complies  with  minimum  QoS  standards  and  is  transparent  in terms of its network management techniques;
- The publication of average or expected speeds is counter-productive and likely to confuse consumers.

StarHub

StarHub submits that developments in the local internet access service market have been healthy and that concerns over blocking or discriminatory treatment of internet traffic and content are unfounded

StarHub is concerned over IDA's proposal to provide added transparency to end-users by requiring ISPs and telecom network operators to publish an "expected average internet access speed" indicator. The inclusion of an expected average internet access speed is very subjective and cannot be estimated with a fair degree of accuracy. We would instead propose the continuation of IDA's residential broadband speed tests.

M1

In summary, M1 proposes:
* No change to existing policy position or approach on net neutrality;
* No  publication  of  misleading  information  such  as  “average  Internet  access  speed”  or “expected Internet access speed”; and
* Improve public education on broadband internet  services, thereby  raising the level of understanding on factors affecting the provision such telecommunication services. 


Super Internet

International IP Transit pricing today for 1Gbps out of Singapore is approximately US$20/Mbps/mth. Furthermore, trunk link pricing works out to S$4.10/Mbps/mth. With consumer pricing for “100Mbps” services at a level far below $3,110/mth, it is undeniable that there is oversubscription and therefore potential, if not actual, congestion in all networks. It therefore remains to be considered what measures ought to be allowable for management of this congestion.

Source: http://www.ida.gov.sg/Policies%20and%20Regulation/20070612111424.aspx

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