Re: FCC contract on measuring BB performance

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat net>
Date: April 21, 2010 3:13:29 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC contract on measuring BB performance

At 10:42 AM 4/21/2010, Gerald Faulhaber wrote:

> FCC has just signed a deal with SamKnows, a British outfit that is a leader in measuring Internet/broadband 
> performance and has worked extensively with OfCom.  The Public Notice is here: 
> http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-670A1.pdf .

One of the most interesting things about this development is that the FCC has accepted what appears to be a "lowball" 
bid. The FCC requested that at least 10,000 broadband accounts be tested over a long period, and the bid came in at 
$500,000 US. Allowing 500 extra subjects to allow for dropout, this comes to about $47 per broadband account.

It is difficult to find a state of the art off-the-shelf Internet router -- never mind one with custom programming -- 
for $47. (You can find some older or lower end models at this price at Wal-Mart.) And this doesn't count salaries, 
custom programming, outbound or return shipping, followup, tech support (a typical Internet tech support call costs a 
minimum of $20 to handle properly, and a substantial percentage of users will require help), test design, construction 
and deployment of test servers, bandwidth and rack space for those servers, or compilation of results. One must ask: 
How could SamKnows (or anyone) possibly meet the bid requirements at this price?

--Brett Glass




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