Editing Quality of Service Monitoring for Broadband Access

Title: Quality of Service Monitoring for Broadband Access

Research Question: Can quality of service (QoS) monitoring help detect the impact of proprietary network spaces on broadband access?

Methodology: The researchers surveyed other QoS policy initiatives in various industries, such as airlines, wireless, and wireline telephone industries. They also conducted a field test of QoS-monitoring software placed on the computers of a sample of broadband subscribers. This software periodically conducted a battery of tests to assess the quality of connections from the subscriber's computer to various content sites.

Results: The data from the field test showed no systematic biases in connection quality between affiliated and non-affiliated content sites. This suggested that the walls in the "garden" were low enough not to be detrimental to public communications.

Implications: QoS monitoring is timely because the potential for the Internet to break into a loose network of proprietary content domains appears stronger than ever. Recent court rulings and policy statements suggest a growing trend towards relaxed scrutiny of mergers and easing of content ownership rules. This could lead to a market with a small number of large, vertically integrated network operators, each pushing its proprietary content on subscribers. However, the move towards proprietary spaces conflicts with the open philosophy on which the Internet was founded. Therefore, policy makers require empirical evidence that proprietary barriers require a public response. QoS monitoring systems would alert policymakers to the development of such scenarios.

In conclusion, while there are concerns about the potential for proprietary information spaces on the Internet, the current data suggests that the quality of connections is generally equal across affiliated and non-affiliated content sites. QoS monitoring can help detect any systematic differences in connection quality, which would warrant further research into the behavioral implications of such differences.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0109111v2
Authors: 
arXiv ID: 0109111v2

[[Category:Computer Science]]
[[Category:Quality]]
[[Category:Monitoring]]
[[Category:Qos]]
[[Category:Proprietary]]
[[Category:Content]]