Introduction
During the last 20 years, the main tenets of Internet development included building and sustaining an open, interoperable, scalable network of networks that robustly supports a variety of applications and devices. As we look forward to a ubiquitous big broadband environment, these basic philosophies still hold true. In order to ensure these sustaining principles, FirstMile.US espouses a new ideology moving from “last mile” supplier-centric networks to “first mile” user-centric networks.
To understand how broadband should evolve, it is essential to understand the three distinct portions of a broadband connection.
- The first is the pipe -- essentially the path, street or highway connecting you to the rest of the broadband network. These can be wireless or wired or a combination of the two.
- The second portion is the applications – this is what you can do over the broadband pipe. These are sometimes software-based, but may be built-in to certain devices.
- And, finally, there are devices and computers that you need to attach to your pipe that provide specific functions to help you more readily access applications.
In this document, we are going to focus on how to measure existing broadband penetration in a predetermined area. We suggest a measurement ranking system that allows communities to compare their services with other communities through assessment of their current service levels. The measurement criteria herein focuses on the pipe as described above. The pipe enables applications and devices/computers.
A Note about Open Networks versus Vendor-controlled Networks
Typical broadband deployments in the US are based on the concept of vendor-controlled networks. Vendor-controlled networks usually restrict the use of the network connection to their own provided services (voice, Internet, TV, etc.) and, thereby, control the applications and content available to subscribers.
The world is moving towards a much more consumer-robust concept of open networks. A recent report from a group of international broadband experts describes the open network idea.
“The big picture idea about communications is an open network. At a high level, everyone understands what it means for a network to be open: (1) whatever else is might do, the network offers a pure “transmission” service, so that users can freely communicate with each other; (2) users can connect any devices they want, as long as they don’t harm the network; (3) the network connects to other networks; and (2) the network doesn’t discriminate among users or among the services, information, and applications users want to provide to each other.
In this regard, we should carefully distinguish between the basic infrastructure on which communication depends, and the notion of a “service” provided using that infrastructure. Newspaper delivery is a “service” provided using roads – a physical transportation infrastructure. We do not normally think of roads themselves as a “service” being provided to anyone – even though it obviously costs money to provide and maintain roads, and even though there must be rules regarding the use of and access to roads…The point of the [communications] infrastructure is not be a market-driven service itself. The point of the infrastructure is to enable and facilitate the provision of services that will be subject to the normal operation of market forces."
A Note about Satellite Broadband
We do not advocate counting satellite broadband as part of the deployed service base in our measurement criteria. The General Accounting Office said it best in its 2006 report.
“Currently, three providers of satellite service can offer nearly ubiquitous broadband service in the United States. These providers use geosynchronous satellites that orbit in a fixed position above the equator and transmit and receive data directly to and from subscribers. Signals from satellites providing broadband service can be accessed as long as the user’s reception dish has a clear view of the southern sky. Therefore, while the footprint of the providers’ transmission covers most of the country, a person living in an apartment with windows only facing north, or a person living in house in a heavily wooded area might not be able to receive Internet access via satellite. Earlier Internet services via satellite could only receive Internet traffic downstream—that is, from the satellite to the subscriber—and upstream Internet traffic was transmitted through a standard telephone line connection. Currently, however, satellite companies provide both upstream and downstream connections via satellite, eliminating the need for a telephone line connection and speeding the overall rate of service. Transmission of data via satellite typically adds one-half to three-fourths of a second, causing a slight lag in transmission and rendering this service less well-suited for certain applications over the Internet. While satellite broadband service may be available throughout the country, the price for this service is generally higher than most other broadband modes; both the equipment necessary for service and recurring monthly fees are generally higher for satellite broadband service, compared with most other broadband transmission modes.”
Factors that should be considered when determining the nature of the broadband supply
After studying rural areas, we determined five unique criteria for measuring broadband supply. Each criteria may play an important, possibly limiting role in the availability of broadband supply and the motivation for service providers to choose or ignore a community as a viable business opportunity.
Criteria 1: Number of Service Providers
To accurately establish the availability of a competitive environment in an area, it is critical to understand the role of the service provider, open versus closed networks, and the number of competitors with closed networks. With market-driven vendor-centric services, the number of providers indicates the desirability of the area in terms of profitability. With open networks deployed, only one pipe is needed to avail access to many communications service providers to homes and businesses via an installed fiber or wireless network.
In a vendor-controlled network, each unique pipe to the home should be counted. In an open network, one pipe is adequate. In closed, vendor-controlled networks, 3 or more service providers constitute a robust competitive environment in a rural area. Currently, the European Union is has determined that it takes at least 3 to 5 carriers to provide a true competitive environment in urban settings. Because it is unrealistic to envision this depth in some of the more remote or sparsely populated rural areas, we lowered the number to reflect what might be reasonable in rural areas. In vendor-controlled networks, the number of providers should include wired services, fixed wireless services, and mobile wireless that provide at least a basic broadband service.
How to measure
Survey the providers in your area and determine if they provide vendor-controlled networks or open networks. Make a list of the name, their website, their service levels (upload and download speeds) and their prices. Look for providers in all categories: telephone companies, cable TV companies, mobile wireless companies like cell phone carriers, fixed wireless companies and other smaller Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that might serve your area. Ensure that you fully understand where their service is available and where it is not available.
Ranking
- If you have an open network with scalable capacity, award 5 points.
- If you have three or more vendor-controlled providers that provide broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction, award 5 points.
- If you have at least two vendor-controlled providers that provide broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction, award 3 points.
- If you have at least one vendor-controlled provider that provide broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction, award 1 point.
- If you have no providers that provide broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction, award 0 points.
Criteria 2: Price
The pricing of broadband services is important to assess affordability and performance. Monthly service costs plus the cost per GB (gigabyte) of downloaded content or data per month should be considered.
How to Measure
Survey the providers in your area and make a list of the name, their website, their service levels (upload and download speeds) and their prices. Look for providers in all categories: telephone companies, cable TV companies, mobile wireless companies like cell phone carriers, fixed wireless companies and other smaller Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that might serve your area. Pay particular attention to the small print in the contracts. Many providers have set an artificial limit of allowed gigabytes per month and may have additional fees set for additional gigabytes. Be sure to note what they are.
Ranking
There are two different but useful ways of ranking prices included here. The first method prices the middle mile cost (which is passed on to consumers) and the second method compares rural pricing with urban pricing. If you want to use both, add the final scores together and divide by 2.
Middle Mile Cost Method:
- If an OC-3 to a major ISP backbone location is available for under $2000 per month, award 5 points.
- If a DS-3 for to a major ISP backbone location is available for under $2000 per month, award 4 points.
- If a DS-3 to a major ISP backbone location is available for under $5000 per month, award 3 points.
- If a DS-3 for under $10,000 per month, award 2 points.
- If a DS-3 to a major ISP backbone location for is available under $20,000 per month, award 1 point.
- If a DS-3 to a major ISP backbone location costs $20,000 per month or more, award 0 points.
Comparison Pricing Method: (the urban pricing should be derived from pricing in one of the five largest metropolitan areas in the US for equivalent service levels of broadband (768 in at least one direction): New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia.) Be sure to include any service level caps (usually noted in gigabytes per month downloaded) in your calculations of price comparisons. Average downloads per month vary widely, but 10 gigabytes per month would be a good estimate for a broadband user with light video downloading.
- If the price in your measured area equals or is less than comparable pricing in large urban areas, award 5 points.
- If the price in your measured area is more than 1.25 times but less than 1.5 times comparable pricing in large urban areas, award 3 points.
- If the price in your measured area is more than 1.5 times comparable pricing in large urban areas, award 1 point.
- If you have no broadband service, award 0 points.
Criteria 3: Coverage
In many cases in current broadband service provisioning, arbitrary or technology limitations are imposed, limiting service to a specific geographical area instead of an entire town/census block/zip code. As such, it is important to determine the available service penetration based on the number of households and businesses in the measured territory. Without an adequate accounting of coverage per household/business, many of the broadband supply measurements are misleading and create pockets of unserved communities. As has been noted by the GAO, the current FCC structure is flawed since if one house is served in a zip code, the entire zip code is counted as having broadband.
How to Measure
The best way to measure this is to map both residences and businesses and overlay the map with service provider coverage. In urban areas, there may be city or county Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that already have maps. In some cases, cable franchise agreements can provide exact cable coverage footprint. For telephone companies, you can work with local staff to understand the footprint, although in areas with cable coverage, it is normally less that the cable footprint. However, since many providers think that their coverage map is strategic information, it may be necessary to estimate coverage thorough a survey of residents and businesses. Most mobile wireless carriers have excellent broadband coverage maps on their web sites, which can be transposed on your local map.
Ranking
- If you have at least one provider that provides broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction and the area being measured is 85% or more covered, award 5 points.
- If you have at least one provider that provides broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction and the area being measured is 50% or more covered, award 3 points.
- If you have at least one provider that provides broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction and the area being measured is 30% or more covered, award 1 points.
- If you have no provider that provides broadband service at speeds faster than 768 in either direction and the area being measure is less than 30% covered, award 0 points.
Criteria 4: Highest upload speed and highest download speed
Much of today’s broadband infrastructure was built to support consumption, not production of broadband content. But, today’s Internet uses and tomorrow’s uses are becoming more and more symmetric – where users produce and consume content. As such, it is important to know evaluate both upload and download speeds individually when assessing broadband supply. While we don’t include a specific measurement for symmetric service in the criteria below, you may wish to provide an extra point for providers who provide symmetric service.
Both federal and state entities are recommending a minimum level of upload and download speeds. The California Advanced Services Fund recommends minimum acceptable broadband speeds as 1 megabit per second for upload and 3 megabits per second for download. The federal suggestion for current generation broadband is 1 megabit per second for upload and 5 megabits per second for download. If an area is served by “radio”, the speeds are lowered to 786 kilobits per second upload and 3 megabits per second download. The federal suggestion for next generation broadband is 20 megabits per second for upload and 100 megabits per second for download. Services that do not meet these standards should be ranked less desirable. Services that don’t meet the current FCC definition for basic broadband of 768 kilobits per second (at least one direction) should not be considered as current deployed services.
How to Measure
Choose the provider that meets the highest speeds in your area. If they don’t cover at least 50% of the area you are measuring, pick the provider who does. If none cover at least 50% of the territory, use the highest one, but make a note in your results. From their literature, website or phone support, find out what the highest speeds for both upload and download. Note that in many cases, providers are not enthusiastic about disclosing upload speeds and neglect to include them. If you call, you will find that the customer support staff may not know either. You might want to have a number of people call to verify the upload speeds. Be sure to ask if that is the upload speed for your area. In some cases, the service representative will quote the highest speed the company provides, even if it is not available in your area.
Ranking
It’s best to split this ranking into two equations: one score for upload speed and another score for download speed. After ranking, add them together for a total combined score.
- For upload speeds above 2 megabits per second, award 5 points.
- For upload speeds above 1 megabit per second, award 3 points.
- For upload speeds above 768 kilobits per second, award 1 point.
- For upload speeds below 512 kilobits per second, award 0 points.
- For download speeds above 5 megabits per second, award 5 points.
- For upload speeds equal to or above 1.5 megabits per second but less than 5 megabits per second, award 3 points.
- For upload speeds equal to or above 768 kilobits per second but less than 1.5 megabits per second, award 1 point.
- For upload speeds below 768 kilobits per second, award 0 points.
Criteria 5: Backhaul/Middle Mile Availability
A recent report from the New America Foundation states, “another key obstacle to universal high-speed broadband access is the connection of those last-mile networks to the Internet backbone. No community or network is an island. Increasingly access to the high-speed middle-mile links that carry Internet traffic to the backbone, and the escalating costs associated with transporting traffic among networks, have become fundamental barriers to spreading connectivity, promoting broadband competition, improving speeds and lowering prices.” Backhaul or middle mile availability estimates need to be gathered for the community being measured. You need to count the number of providers offering backhaul/middle mile services as well as their ability to add additional backhaul circuits. You might find that while the existing connectivity is adequate, there are no additional growth capacity is available to allow interconnection to a logical Internet peering point.
How to Measure
Much of this information is only going to be available from local experts who buy and/or sell communications services. It’s best to find at least three experts and have them rank both the number of backhaul providers and the growth capacity available. Using a tool like Survey Monkey allows local experts to provide their input and add the combined values for easier scoring.
Ranking
- If there is more than one backhaul/middle mile provider with growth capacity, award 5 points.
- If there is only one backhaul/middle mile provider with growth capacity, award 3 points.
- If one or multiple providers have extremely limited backhaul/middle mile capacity, award 1 point.
- If there is no provider or no growth capacity from current provider, award 0 points.
Summing Broadband Supply
Utilizing the scoring system described above provides a possible 25 points. Pairing the numerical score with a supply ranking as suggested below, provides a comprehensive view of your area and a way to prioritize communities most in need of attention.
- If the total sum of all five criteria is below 10 points, the area should receive a “none/underserved broadband area” designation.
- If the total sum of all five criteria is 10-14 points, the area should receive a “low served broadband area” designation.
- If the total sum of all five criteria is 15-19 points, the area should receive a “medium served broadband area” designation.
- If the total sum is 20 points or greater, the area should receive a “highly served broadband area” designation.