RE: Verizon Policy Statement on Net Neutrality

["Naslund, Steve" <SNaslund () medline com>]

> William Waites wrote:

> This is a self-fulling prophecy. As long as the edge networks have asymmetry built into them popular programs and 
> services will be developed that are structured to >account for this. As long as the popular programs and services are 
> made like this, the "average user"
> will not know that they might want something different.

This is so wrong headed I don't know where to begin.  As an ISP I build the network to provide what consumers want, 
that is how you stay in business and attract customers.

> It doesn't have to be this way, its an artefact of a choice on the part of the larger (mostly telephone company) ISPs 
> in the 1990s. It also happens to suit capital because it >is more obvious how to make money at the expense of the 
> users with an asymmetric network and centralised "Web 2.0" style services.

Wrong again.  I was an ISP in the 1990s and our first DSL offerings were SDSL symmetric services to replace more 
expensive T-1 circuits.  When we got into residential it was with SDSL and then the consumers wanted more downstream so 
ADSL was invented.  I was there, I know this.  I did not make more money because I sent traffic toward the user rather 
than up from the user.  In fact, it cost us lots of money to beef up OUR connections to our Tier 1 providers to account 
for the high level of user download traffic.  We would have loved it if all our users talked amongst themselves but 
that is not how the world works.


> Thankfully the cracks are starting to show. I was pleased to hear the surprised and shocked praise when I installed a 
> symmetric radio service to someone in the >neighbourhood and it was no longer painful for them to upload their 
> photographs. Multi-party videoconferencing doesn't work well unless at least one participant (or a >server) is on 
> good, symmetric bandwidth. These are just boring mundane applications. Imagine the more interesting ones that might 
> emerge if the restriction of >asymmetry was no longer commonplace..

To that I will just say that if your average user spend as much time videoconferencing as they do watching streaming 
media then they are probably a business.

Steven Naslund
Chicago IL
.