Quality of Service Monitoring for Broadband Access

Title: Quality of Service Monitoring for Broadband Access

Research Question: Can quality of service 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: Quality of service monitoring is timely because the potential for the Internet to break into a loose network of proprietary content domains appears stronger than ever. The move towards proprietary spaces conflicts with the open philosophy on which the Internet was founded. However, policy makers require empirical evidence that proprietary barriers require a public response. QoS monitoring can provide such evidence by detecting any degradation of quality or equality of connection to diverse content providers over access networks. This can alert policymakers to the development of proprietary information spaces and help maintain an open and equitable Internet.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0109111v1 Authors: arXiv ID: 0109111v1