Re: Request for input on the definition of Broadband

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
> Date: September 2, 2009 11:46:39 EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>, Stagg Newman <lsnewmanjr () yahoo com>, Rob  
> Curtis <robert.curtis () fcc gov>, Tom Brown <thomas.brown () fcc gov>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re:  Request for input on the definition of  
> Broadband

> Here is a concise, precise,  and I believe complete, definition that  
> can serve as a good starting point. Readers may note that it is a  
> definition that has served the Internet well.  It is 3 sentences long.
>
> Broadband is a low-latency and high-datarate access service that  
> provides ability to send and receive IP datagrams to hosts on the  
> worldwide public Internet, as defined by the full address space  
> defined by the IP versions currently  used.  The broadband transport  
> may use only the information placed into the IP header/envelope to  
> manage delivery, does not use, record, or retain content information  
> for any purpose other than law enforcement purposes. The public  
> internet is defined as the reachable set of hosts on all autonomous  
> systems that have agreed to exchange Internet traffic with one or  
> more peer autonomous systems in the public Internet.
>
> Comments:  this preserves technological evolvability, since it says  
> nothing about the technology underlying the transport, nor does it  
> say anything about the applications served.
>
>
> On 09/02/2009 04:55 AM, David Farber wrote:
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com>
> > Date: September 1, 2009 6:01:00 PM EDT
> > To: dave () farber net
> > Subject: Re: [IP] Request for input on the definition of Broadband
> >
> > Dave,
> >
> > Yes, surely "broadband" should be parsed out into bandwidth,  
> > latency, availability, and so on.
> >
> > More significantly, though, a useful definition will not be stated  
> > in terms of specific values for those properties but rather will  
> > adapt with changing technology and expectations.
> >
> > I would suggest this intuition for an adaptable definition: that a  
> > "broadband" connection supports the vast majority of the currently  
> > popular information resources on the internet with satisfactory  
> > response time.  That is, "currently popular" at the time the  
> > definition is invoked.  As new applications emerge, they up the ante.
> >
> > For example, as people are induced to put their information into  
> > "the cloud", broadband service should make that indistinguishable  
> > from local storage, which means that fast uploads will be required  
> > as well as fast downloads.  Any form of offsite storage suffices  
> > for this point -- I keep the master copies of my files on a  
> > university server, so I really notice even brief service  
> > interruptions, and I need symmetrical service rather than the  
> > common fast down/slow up service because I need fast uploads for  
> > things like intermediate file saves.
> >
> > Mary
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM, David Farber <dave () farber net>  
> > wrote:
> > The other day I had a conversation with a friend at the Federal  
> > Communications Commission. He asked an interesting question. When  
> > people talk about broadband they tend to talk about numbers bits  
> > per second except for.
> >
> > Something seems wrong with this approach. First it is very  
> > sensitive to the advancement of technology any number will be  
> > obsolete in a few years. Second of all, and maybe most important it  
> > ignores other issues that would make any speed usable in many  
> > applications -- -- like latency chair etc. He asked if there was a  
> > "syntax" for broadband -- -- that is a deeper way of characterizing  
> > when a system supports broadband and when it does not.
> >
> > I offer to the IP community a chance to take a crack at this  
> > interesting and potentially profitable challenge.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
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