Posts Tagged ‘net neutrality’

Mobile Data Plans that Work

Monday, June 7th, 2010 by Cam Cullen

Mobile data plans have been in the news quite a bit lately, with Verizon (LTE plans) and AT&T (iPad and iPhone plans) updating the market on their mobile data positions. Verizon has all but announced that there will be no unlimited data plans on their LTE network, which is now scheduled to go live in 30-40 cities in Q4 2010, and people will pay based on their usage. AT&T announced that they are doing away with the unlimited iPad plan (already) and will now support tethering for the iPhone (but only for a 2GB/month plan). Other mobile operators also would rather have data plans based on usage rather than unlimited plans, but it remains to be seen how long or if operators with rich data devices can hold out, or if the pain of congestion will hit their network as it has for AT&T.

But is the ideal answer for mobile data to always bill based on usage? Although I understand the issues that are driving the operators to implement usage based plans (cost control, congestion management, etc.), I think that there are hybrid plans that could significantly accelerate the adoption of mobile data usage (and fixed mobile substitution for some users). Mobile operators could serve their customers better by offering flexible plans that were targeted towards different “consumer” types on their mobile network that were sensitive to application usage and time of day. These plans would be ideal for the new generation of rich media devices (Android phones/tablets, iPhone, iPad, and laptops) and accelerate their adoption by the consumer groups that covet the devices but are still afraid of bill shock (which will be even higher now that overage charges are going to be pervasive). It has been proven that devices can sell data plans, but the plans can also stunt the usage of the devices if using them becomes too complicated and expensive.

What would these plans look like? Most plans would be similar to the existing plans, with usage meters for the majority of data and separate usage meters for the applications that are attractive to specific consumers, with streaming video, audio, and file sharing leading the pack. Although web pages can be a lot of data (I once read an analysis that said the BBC front page was 1MB of data, which could cost you a pretty penny when you are roaming!), the real problem for mobile operators are long-lived streaming or downloading applications that can cause persistent congestion in a cell or on the network. Some examples of targeted plans:

  • Streaming Video: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 25GB of data, unlimited nights and weekends
  • Streaming Audio: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 10GB of data, unlimited nights and weekends
  • Unlimited Web: Unlimited web browsing and email, 2GB streaming media and other applications
  • Social Media: Unlimited Facebook/MySpace/IM/email, 2GB other applications

These plans could either be an add-on to an existing data plan, or part of different bundles for users. A very attractive iPad plan would offer unlimited web browsing, but a usage meter on other applications. I don’t see these plans as being negative towards Network Neutrality, since they will be selected by the users – as an alternative to the pure usage-based plan that the mobile operator would also offer. Time-based plans are already popular among mobile operators for voice, and could easily be popular among students and business travelers (i.e. Nights and Weekends plans).

My concern is that placing restrictive limits on bandwidth usage will stifle or limit the potential of the nascent market for rich data devices, or limit their use to Wi-Fi networks, which completely misses the goal of upgrades to LTE and other high speed mobile data networks – which is to make access ubiquitous for users (and not ubiquitous just for email). The challenge of implementing these plans is on the systems that would be used to meter the different applications (i.e. DPI systems) to ensure that the application classification is accurate.

An innovative mobile operator that offered these plans as an alternative to a more restrictive plan could tip the scales in their favor when competing for the “high value” users for mobile data. In the highly competitive mobile market, operators that think outside the box and find ways to best leverage the technology that they are already deploying in their networks will emerge victorious and profitable. Flexibility will be a key success factor.

As a user – would you be more likely to purchase a plan that gave you flexibility in how you used your mobile broadband?  I know that I would.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry, Technology | 1 Comment »

Does Network Neutrality impact DPI?

Friday, May 7th, 2010 by James Brear

FCC Chairman Genachowski’s recent letter has instigated a lot of talk about Net Neutrality, some of it apocalyptical (“The end of the Internet is here!”), some of it reasonable (“Nothing has changed, business as usual”). Both sides of the discussion have valid points to their arguments, but what really is the impact?

Without going into details (I will leave that to the experts), the FCC has reset the status quo to what it was before the Comcast court decision. As Genachowski himself states in the document “…this approach would restore the status quo”, resetting the ability of the FCC to manage broadband as they have in the past, preserving the FCC’s mission.

This is not “the nuclear option” that had been proposed by some, which would have made every aspect of broadband service open to regulation and restriction, and it is also not a capitulation to the Comcast ruling which would essentially make the FCC powerless against ISPs. Instead, as Genachowski himself headlined in his letter, this was a third way to look at the problem. Under this framework, the FCC would ensure that open access to networks is maintained, and focuses on the connections to the network, and not the content or services that run on that transport.

So now we are back to where we were before the Comcast ruling. However, there still are some concerns about stifling innovation and curtailing investments in broadband, but I think much of the uncertainty has been removed for ISPs (Procera customers) that want to continue to invest in their infrastructures because the evolving needs of their customers require it.

But….we are not exactly back where we were two years ago. Several changes have already come about because of this whole exercise.

  • ISPs know that they MUST be transparent in what they do on their networks, and consumers are watching them very closely, so no funny business is likely to slip by end users. This is a very good thing for consumers, and will force ISPs to think twice before they implement new policies, as they will be tried in the court of opinion well before any court case could be filed, and consumers will vote with their wallets and switch if practices are not to their liking.
  • There is general agreement that applications should not be discriminated against during normal operations (I qualify that because congestion management is still a problem, especially for real-time services).
  • Reasonable network management is OK. Although “reasonable” is open to interpretation, I think again the court of public opinion and consumer’s wallets will guide ISPs to a mutually agreeable definition (and this is also where congestion management is again an issue).
  • The door is open to ISPs that want to be creative and find ways to have service plans that innovate new services and deliver LOWER cost options for subscribers that use the network less and higher cost for the users that consume more resources.

So what is the impact of Net Neutrality on Procera?, neutral to positive. I don’t see any ISPs “behaving badly”, and no application vendors claiming discrimination. I do see smart phone customers still complaining, and some broadband customers concerned about video and voice performance, but our “reasonable” network management solutions can help ISP’s take their service to the next level.  Creating better customer experiences and evolving their networks to keep up with the innovations of technology.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry, Technology | No Comments »

Don’t Invest In DPI Until Net Neutrality Has Been Resolved

Monday, January 25th, 2010 by Jon Linden

Sorry, there should be a question mark at the end of that heading, and the answer is No!  The fact is you need to invest in DPI now. I know I’m biased, but that’s why I possess hands-on knowledge and facts of what our customers do and why.

DPI does not equal P2P throttling and Net Neutrality infringement. P2P control originally presented itself as an opportunity for DPI with a quick ROI on a hair-on-fire issue where P2P filesharing rampaged at an exponential growth rate, which meant exponential cost. But today we’re in the second, or I would even argue the third generation of DPI, and both products, and the use of these products, have evolved and become much more sophisticated.

Today the most common request is visibility. Visibility of what traffic is traversing the network in order to detect changes early in user behavior to avoid surprises on the core business and business models. Today’s rapid increase in streaming video is both a threat and an opportunity to cable MSOs, whose core business is TV distribution.

This is a good illustration of why network traffic intelligence is so important. Today we don’t watch TV as we did before. We don’t watch in real-time since we have TiVo and subscribe to episodes as they are “released”. It’s just a small step to Hulu and the broadcasting companies’ Play services. Early detection of these phenomena gives the operator the ability to offer relevant packages, change pricing, and develop new services without being left far behind.

In all honesty, very few of our customers and prospects even consider limitation of competing over-the-top (OTT) services. Savvy end-users catch what they do, draw attention to it, and the operator is caught with their pants down. You don’t “get away with it”.

But knowledge is power. Based on proper network intelligence you can make proper decisions. For example reach out to emerging services and join them instead of trying to beat them, look at the value add of your paid-for services compared to free OTT services, see the impact on your network of new applications, and project the investments required to accommodate these new services.

You could actually go as far as to say that DPI is required to enable Net Neutrality. Transparency is a cornerstone in Net Neutrality and DPI offers the tools that verify that you are transparent, that you’re not preventing good service levels due to obsolete policies supporting an old reality.

We, Procera, have not seen an impact on our DPI business from Net Neutrality, and I think it’s due to the above. Operators understand this, have understood why DPI is necessary, how it’s used properly, and are able to discard the background noise of an infected discussion while listening to creative and reasonable input.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry, Technology | 1 Comment »