Hello Catherine, Thank you for sharing these studies. Below is the link to another OECD report I found that talks briefly on the need for higher speeds and refers in turn to couple of other researches in this regard: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/49/8/40390735.pdf This study suggests that for the networks that will exist during 2010-2020 the speed requirements would be 50 Mbit/s downstream and above 10 Mbit/s upstream for an end-user. However, the analysis of applications that would require such speeds is not as detailed as I'd wish.. I guess what I am looking for is sort of a schematic presentation on what can and can not be done at certain speeds in foreseeable future. Although there might be some futuristic elements in this approach.. To certain degree it's a little bit of guessing what applications will be on the market soon or what compression technologies might become available to address these issues. Amon. -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Catherine Middleton Sent: February 10, 2009 11:54 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Broadband speeds: demand for 10 Mbps and above Amon asks: "what should be the justifiable bb speed targets to households for countries, like Canada, US, UK?" (full message quoted below) This is an important and unresolved question. The need for higher speeds is very commonly simply stated or assumed, without any specific justification. In theory, faster speeds are better, but in practice, at least in the short term, faster speeds from an ISP to a residence don't mean that content necessarily travels much faster. Additionally, it's well-known that speeds of "up to XX Mbps" rarely deliver the potential maximum speeds. (see the "UK Broadband Speeds 2008" report on this point). Regarding justification of the need for speed: - The California Broadband Task Force report does include a specific list matching applications to required network speeds: California Broadband Task Force (2008). The State of Connectivity - Building Innovation Through Broadband: State of California. http://www.calink.ca.gov/pdf/CBTF_FINAL_Report.pdf . - Similar information is also found in International Telecommunication Union (2003). Birth of Broadband. Geneva: ITU. - Another report that addresses the issue of demand for higher speed networks is: Broadband Stakeholder Group (2007). Pipe Dreams?: Prospects for next generation broadband deployment in the UK, www.broadbanduk.org/content/view/236/7/ - The issue of network symmetry (i.e. equivalent, or near equivalent upload and download speeds) is very important in a world where users generate content. The Australian case: In Australia, the National Broadband Network tender requested proposals for a 12 Mbps network. There doesn't appear to be any specific rationale for that particular speed, and many stakeholders argued for the need for much higher speeds in public consultations on the NBN. (see http://www.dbcde.gov.au/communications_for_business/funding_programs__an d__support/national_broadband_network/submissions and http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/broadband_ctte/submissions/sublis t.htm) In Australian cities, commercial ISPs will provide many consumers with speeds better than 12 Mbps well before the NBN is built (if it is built). In the short term, the primary reason for higher speeds is to deliver (i.e. broadcast) television services and other entertainment content. But despite the experiences of most people on this list, the average internet user isn't yet using the internet to download (or upload) much content. Canadian data continue to show that a large proportion of internet users, although they have broadband, don't really use the internet that intensely, or for applications that really require high speed. (See various papers on this topic at http://www.broadbandresearch.ca/ourresearch/papers.html , especially my work with Jordan Leith in the 'Working Papers' section of the site. We are currently working on a paper using 2007 data.) So while most people think they'd like higher speeds, actual usage data doesn't (yet?) suggest that everyone requires higher speeds to support the applications they are using. This of course raises the perennial 'build it and they will come' issue, the argument that if we had higher speed networks there would be more apps that took advantage of all this bandwidth, and people would find uses for it. I do think that in the longer term, more interesting and potentially useful things are possible, but there are enormous unresolved questions about how to build next generation networks that could provide for innovative health, education, government and other applications. For more info on broadband deployment, see my bookmarks at http://delicious.com/canadabroadband . catherine -------------------------------- Dr. Catherine Middleton Canada Research Chair - Communication Technologies in the Information Society Ted Rogers School of Management Ryerson University Toronto, Canada http://www.ryerson.ca/itm/fcty/Middleton/Middleton.html
Message: 3 Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:05:09 -0500 From: "Khakimov, Amonulla (MGS)" <Amonulla.Khakimov@ontario.ca> Subject: [Air-L] Broadband speeds: demand for 10 Mbps and above To: <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Message-ID:
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Hello all,
I am looking for directions to research studies and reports that justify need for higher broadband speeds. There are lots of discussions going around the need for ultra-broadband, fibre networks, etc. in many countries. Some jurisdictions set up specific speed targets, for instance UK recently announced it's plan to provide universal broadband access at minimum speeds of 2 mbps. However, I have seen only few studies on technical review of those bandwidth heavy applications that require high-speeds. Further, what should be the justifiable bb speed targets to households for countries, like Canada, US, UK? Average speed, for Canada, according to OECD is around 7 Mbps.. Many experts suggest these days that the minimum speed should be 10 Mbps or above.. What online applications imply that? IPTV, on-line games, VC? Anything else? Any studies to support that?
your help in finding relevant data is greatly appreciated..
Amon.
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