AT&T’s Definition of Broadband Suitable for Online Gaming

AT&T’s advocacy of a federal standard for lowest common denominator broadband has struck a nerve in the online gaming industry.  Stop the Cap! reader Lance noted in a news tip that the gaming industry is unimpressed.

Upset with AT&T’s suggestion that the Federal Communications Commission should accept a definition of broadband service that is merely suitable for basic web browsing and e-mail service, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a trade group for the gaming industry, fired off a letter last week opposing AT&T’s bare bones approach to broadband speed and service:

AT&T argued that the baseline definition of broadband should not include what it characterized as “aspirational broadband services” and “myriad sophisticated applications:’ including streaming video, real-time voice, and “real-time, two-way gaming.” It urged the Agency to focus on more “meaningful” services, such as email, web surfing, interacting with Internet-based government services, and online education and training. According to AT&T, these are more pressing concerns for those who do not have terrestrial broadband access currently.

ESA agrees that such services are important. We disagree that the definition should stop there. Americans deserve a higher benchmark. Online video games are a meaningful part of our participative culture. They remove geographic barriers, connecting people from across the country and around the world. They teach cooperation, cultivate leadership skills, and empower users to express their creatiVity. Increasingly, games are used for training purposes and to educate students about complex social issues. If you are starting your gaming journey, get qwertybro gamer gear to have a good gaming experience. Entertaining does not mean trivial.

What AT&T describes as aspirational services are no less important to the future of the Internet than email and web browsing were to the past and are today. Whatever definition of broadband the FCC adopts, it should use a benchmark that opens the potential of the Internet to all Americans. Ultimately, consumers should determine what applications and services they find to be of value.

The ESA has a lot to learn when it comes to the broadband industry allowing consumers to determine what they want from their broadband service.  This is an industry that has several players that do not listen to their customers.  Instead, it engages in PR and astroturf lobbying campaigns to try and convince customers to accept the industry’s own agenda — higher pricing, less “abuse” of their networks, no government oversight or regulation, limited competition, and control of as much content (and the wires that content travels across) as feasible.

The type of gaming consumers expect from their broadband connection.

The ESA should not be surprised by AT&T’s desire to define broadband at the barest of minimum speeds.  AT&T still owns an enormous network of copper telephone wiring.  In rural areas, broadband service definitions based on the lowest speeds are tailor-made for the older phone system capable of delivering only slow speed DSL to consumers.  To define broadband at higher speeds would force AT&T to invest in upgrading its current infrastructure, particularly in rural communities.

Ars Technica ponders the question of whether online gaming is in fact “necessary” to consider when defining a broadband standard, and delves into a discussion about gaming and its value to society.  That misses more important points to consider:

1. With a broadband industry trying to design a broadband standard that is only capable of reasonably serving web pages, e-mail, and other low bandwidth applications commonplace a decade ago, will embracing mediocre broadband speeds help or hurt the United States and the increasingly important digital economy?  How many jobs have been created in new business start-ups that depend on leveraging a robust broadband platform in the United States?  What impact does a “go slow” approach have on American competitiveness and standing in an increasingly wired world?
2. What impact will this industry’s increased noise about Internet Overcharging schemes have on the online gaming landscape?  While many current games such as wager free casinos don’t use much data transmitting game moves back and forth during play, the software and its add-ons and updates can easily contribute to a bigger broadband bill when users update. If you love casino games, mpo888 stands out as a leading platform for online gambling, offering endless hours of entertainment. Even more relevant are the trials for the next generation online gaming services like OnLive, which consume considerable amounts of bandwidth from the moment game play begins.  The ESA would do well not to only consider the implications of slow, mediocre broadband service.  It should also consider the very real threat a heavily usage capped or overpriced consumption billing scheme would have on their future.  Will consumers play games that bring them ever closer to a monthly usage cap, or start a billing meter running the moment play begins?

This website is run on a voluntary and non-profit basis.  Our ability to reach you, the reader, comes as a benefit of an open and free Internet.  I can criticize and speak my mind openly and freely even about my own Internet Service Provider, because on today’s Internet the gatekeeper is your own motivation to write and publish content, and the motivation of the reader to consume it.

In the last few years, some Internet Service Providers have argued it is time to change this winning formula.  They are upset that groups and businesses are creating and distributing content over “their wires” without “paying a portion of the costs for those wires.”  No matter that you and I already pay those costs when we sign up for service with that provider.  Now they want content providers to be willing to pony up money to be assured that their content will reach you, the customer.  Don’t agree to pay?  They can’t guarantee your content won’t be slowed to a crawl by too many outside groups trying to use “their pipes for free” and you and I will be left with Internet service that provides super fast connections to those that pay, and a whole lot of waiting around to access those that don’t.

There is bipartisan support for the just introduced Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009. It would finally make Net Neutrality the law. It’s urgently needed during this time of provider bad behavior, from Internet Overcharging schemes to efforts to control broadband content distribution. Our friends at SaveTheInternet have a petition to sign, but it’s also important to reach out directly to your member of Congress and tell them to support H.R. 3458. It protects the Internet as we know and love it today.

(Courtesy: Lab squad)

The broadband stimulus package advocated by the Obama Administration may become a feeding frenzy for waste, fraud, and abuse.  That’s the attitude of several public interest groups concerned about how public tax dollars are being used to study, map, construct, and deploy broadband networks to reach the underserved, and those without any broadband service at all.

Now the story has drawn the attention of the Associated Press’ technology reporter Peter Svensson, who along with Joelle Tessler, have written a piece exploring just where American taxpayer dollars are going on broadband mapping.

The $787 billion stimulus bill championed by the Obama administration set aside up to $350 million to create a national broadband map that could guide policies aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access. That $350 million tag struck some people in the telecommunications industry as excessive, compared with existing, smaller efforts. The map won’t even be done in time to help decide where to spend much of the $7.2 billion in stimulus money earmarked for broadband programs.

Svensson and Tessler talked to a variety of industry experts, as well as companies that often find themselves at a major disadvantage when trying to bid for mapping funds and discover the lowest bid for the best work isn’t always the determining factor.

The consensus is that the government is at risk for overspending up to 90% of the money set aside for mapping, and has vastly overestimated the actual costs:

Rory Altman, director at telecommunications consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Co., which has helped clients map broadband availability in some areas, said $350 million was a “ridiculous” amount of money to spend on a national broadband map.

Even $100 million might be high. The firm could create a national broadband map for $3.5 million, and “would gladly do it for $35 million,” Altman said.

More concerning is the fact that some of the interests that have successfully won mapping contracts are infested with self-interested telecommunications company executives who have a vested interest in steering the findings of the mapping projects, as well as defending common industry practices of withholding data for “customer privacy” and “competitive” reasons.  Allowing the telecommunications industry to provide the raw data (considerably redacted), a practice defended by telecommunications executives sitting on the boards of some mapping firms winning bids, is a recipe for the production of industry-favorable maps.

Public Knowledge, a public interest group, has been particularly critical of broadband mapping strategies, essential to measuring the current availability and very definition of what is broadband service in the United States.  Art Brodsky, communications director of the group, has reported extensively on the issue for months.

Art Brodsky, for Public Knowledge:

It would be a shame if the stimulus mapping/grant program and the broadband plan were considered in isolation, because they are, together, pieces of the same puzzle. Certainly the telephone and cable industries are considering them together, and using the leverage on one to influence the other to reach the inevitable conclusion that no new broadband policies are needed and that everything will be just fine if we leave the companies in control. Ignore our slumping world rankings for broadband. Ignore the lack of choice. Let’s try to connect the dots into a long silver thread.

The first dot is broadband mapping. If the maps show there is no problem with broadband coverage, then there should be no need for legislation, regulation or any other policies that would immediately be branded a “solution in search of a problem” by the telecom industries. Connected Nation plays a key role here, because their maps will be constructed in at least a dozen states, perhaps more, under the broadband stimulus plan.

Unfortunately, the way the stimulus mapping program is going, that piece is falling nicely into place. By agreeing to the telephone and cable industry’s request – some might say caving into the industry’s demand – that broadband speeds not be reported, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) opened the door for all kinds of mischief. In public comments, NTIA officials said such an agreement was necessary to gain the cooperation of the telephone and cable companies. That’s one way to look at it. Another way is that by requiring the carriers to report broadband speeds – even if their reports were inaccurate – at least there would be something on the record that could be corrected, criticized or cited. Without speed data, the value of the program diminishes. Even under the old rules, all the carriers had to show was “advertised” speeds, so the carriers started advertising. The speeds agreed to by NTIA as “broadband” in the first place are relatively slow anyway.

Mark Seifert, oversees the broadband grant and mapping programs at the NTIA defends the spending proposals by the federal government.  Seifert told the AP that since much of the data will come from the providers’ themselves, NTIA plans to “independently verify” the veracity of the data it receives, which he claims could include door-to-door verification with individual residents and other unspecified verification procedures.

Meanwhile, critics of some of the industry-connected broadband mapping efforts say the groundwork may be laid for future challenges by the nation’s largest broadband providers (large telephone and cable companies) who almost uniformly avoided participating in the first round of stimulus grant applications.

Michael Tattersall, founder of the mapping company Stratsoft is concerned.  He told Public Knowledge incomplete or false map data could be used by providers to have other groups’ stimulus applications thrown out.

If the maps show there is more coverage in rural areas than there actually is, then Tattersall said, the “smaller, in-state broadband providers that are applying for funds that will be directly affected by the quality and integrity of state-commissioned broadband maps.” There could be challenges by the larger carriers, which didn’t apply for stimulus funds, to broadband grants from smaller rural, municipal or neighborhood based on already existing Connected Nation maps.

Disqualified applications based on discredited map data could throw the entire stimulus program into doubt, allowing telecommunications lobbyists for the big providers to argue the stimulus program is a failure and needs to be started over, with recommendations those large providers get the bulk of the money.

Indeed, several providers are already concerned with the prospect that stimulus funds could be used to bring competition to their areas — start-ups and projects funded by government money that could eventually directly compete against their existing offerings, designated as too slow or backwards for 21st century broadband.

With providers already trying to downplay expectations for what defines fast, robust broadband, it leaves incumbent providers keeping their communities in a perpetual slow lane in a much better position not to stick out like a sore thumb.  Brodsky again:

In addition to using the maps, telecom carriers are also trying to freeze the idea of advancing broadband into what exists today.

AT&T led the charge on this, in a remarkable filing that would, in essence, freeze broadband where it is now because that’s what the stimulus law directs the FCC to do when it formulates a broadband plan. AT&T said, “In other words, the definition of broadband must comprise services that can practicably be deployed in unserved and underserved areas—and must comprise services that today’s unserved Americans can and will actually adopt.”

Speedy internet connections have yet to take off in many parts of South Africa because of a shortage in bandwidth.

One leading internet provider says it is not to blame for the slow connection, but frustrations have led one IT group to adopt an unusual method of delivery.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports on the pigeon that beat the internet in Johannesburg.

Service providers across the continent blame the expensive and slow Internet reality for much of Africa on a shortage of connectivity, particularly between Africa and the rest of the world. One African-owned firm, Seacom hopes to change that with the introduction of a new fiber optic cable that went live in July. The new connection enhances service between much of East Africa, including South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique. The cable also provides a new path to reach Europe and Asia at speeds superior to what used to be common across Africa.

But while bandwidth may slowly be on the increase, savings are much harder to find. Businesses routinely pay $600 per month for 1Mbps service. But some providers suggest that does represent savings. Satellite service at the same speed is priced at an average of $3,000 per month.

Consumers in South Africa find broadband pricing very high, with most relying on Telkom, the nation’s primary phone company, for DSL service. Usage caps are prevalent across the continent as well, stifling the development of African broadband services and making services like online video all but unaffordable.

Africa's Internet Connectivity

Thanks to Stop the Cap! readers Jeff, Bones, Terry, and a few others who let us know about this story.

All-you-can-eat buffets, steak dinner vs. salad check splitting, electric and water service meters, toll highways with trucks vs. Mini-Coopers….  The justifications for Internet Overcharging representing “fairness” in broadband pricing have involved just about every analogy the broadband industry can come up with, all designed to make you think sticking a bigger bill to someone else down the street will somehow make your broadband bill smaller.

To convince sucker people into “billing fairness” that doesn’t actually reduce your pricing but could dramatically increase it is a tricky proposition.  To make it work, they have to convince you of a broadband boogeyman up the street who is using up all your Internet and making you pay for it.

As the Re-Education effort continues among the astroturfer and industry PR crowd, the one service broadband providers strenuously avoid comparing themselves to is your local telephone or cell phone provider.  That’s ironic, considering telephone companies move your calls around much the same way Internet traffic moves from point to point.  It’s the closest comparative service around, but your Internet provider doesn’t dare use it in their analogies, because the entire argument for Internet Overcharging schemes falls apart when they do.

While some in the broadband industry want to take your flat rate pricing away, the telephone and cell phone industry is working harder and harder to move to flat rate pricing. Many traditional phone companies now peddle their own unlimited nationwide calling phone plan for $20-40 a month.  Even some of the same broadband providers that want to take away your unlimited broadband service continue to mail blizzards of postcards and saturate the airwaves with marketing for their “talk all you want” unlimited phone plans.

In the mobile phone industry, an all-out price and feature war has erupted, as providers offer practically unlimited local and long distance calling.  No more buckets of minutes to count, no more overage penalties, no more worries about putting off calling until the evening or weekends to protect your minute allowance.

In the past week, major providers have fallen all over themselves with new unlimited calling plans.  Let’s take a look at today’s mobile calling landscape:

AT&T: Last Wednesday, AT&T launched A-List, primarily in response to Sprint’s new Any Mobile, Anytime (see below).  A-List lets customers add up to five numbers on an individual plan or up to 10 shared numbers on a FamilyTalk plan for unlimited calling to and from any phone number in the United States.  The new feature begins September 20, and customers can change their A-List members at any time.  Since customers often make the vast majority of their calls to a select group of people, it’s easy to get virtually unlimited calling that doesn’t exhaust your minute allowance.

Boost Mobile: Back in January, Boost Mobile, the prepaid mobile phone service using the Nextel system (certain areas also provide Boost on Sprint’s network), launched a $50 unlimited calling plan that also includes unlimited handset data use, unlimited text messaging, unlimited walkie-talkie use, no roaming, no hidden fees, no contract and no credit check.

Cricket: Cricket has always had a business plan catering to the prepaid user looking for generous or unlimited calling.  The company heavily emphasizes its package bundles, such as their $45 monthly plan that offers unlimited calling, unlimited text, video and picture messaging, unlimited mobile web browsing, and free 411 service.  The downside is their more limited coverage area, operating primarily for customers in urban and adjacent suburban areas, and providing almost no rural coverage at all.

MetroPCS: Similar to Cricket, MetroPCS aggressively prices unlimited calling plans and bundles in its more limited service areas.  For $40 a month, customers enjoy unlimited long distance calling, unlimited text and picture messaging, and web access.  That pricing is comparable to many wired phone lines with a package of phone features without unlimited long distance.  MetroPCS operates with a similar approach to Cricket – provide good coverage in the urban and suburban areas they focus service on, but usually ignores rural or more distant suburban areas.

PlatinumTel: Operating on the Sprint network, PlatinumTel is another prepaid provider offering unlimited calling, but with some important differences.  For $50 a month, customers enjoy unlimited calling to any domestic phone numbers, unlimited text messaging, etc.  But the service also provides unlimited roaming off their network, so if you get outside of Sprint’s coverage area, but are able to get a signal from another provider, you can still make and receive calls without incurring huge roaming fees.  You also get 100MB of included data (a small additional fee adds more data).

Straight Talk (from TracFone): If you’ve been to Walmart, you have probably seen TracFone phones and prepaid top-up cards at their stores.  TracFone is another provider that operates on someone else’s cellular network.  Their Straight Talk service operates on the robust Verizon Wireless network, providing excellent coverage in most areas except most of Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Mississippi and western Texas.  A $45 monthly fee brings unlimited minutes and text messages, but only 30 megabytes of data for data-enabled phones.

Sprint Nextel: Already offering unlimited calling to other Sprint mobile customers, the third largest national mobile phone company last week introduced Sprint Any Mobile, Anytime. It allows you to call and receive calls from any cell phone on any network in the USA unlimited for free. You’re not limited to just one network or one calling circle. The feature is now automatically added to the Sprint Everything Data plans starting at either the $69.99. The plan also comes with unlimited text messaging and data. The new Any Mobile, Anytime will be especially popular with younger people who have already abandoned traditional landline telephone service and rely exclusively on mobile phones.  You literally cannot exhaust your minute allowance calling these people.  In fact, the only way to burn your minutes under this plan is to roam outside of Sprint’s network or call people on traditional wired phone lines.

T-Mobile: T-Mobile offers the myFaves Minutes plan, which gives customers unlimited minutes to any five numbers of your choice on any network, mobile or landline (excludes toll-free/900 numbers).  It’s easy to use T-Mobile as an unlimited wireless phone provider assuming the majority of your minutes are spent talking to up to five numbers every month.

Verizon Wireless: Already offering unlimited free calling to other Verizon Wireless customers (there are a ton of those), the company also introduced Friends & Family in February. With an eligible plan, customers have unlimited calling to a select group of numbers outside their standard mobile-to-mobile calling group, including landlines. This gives single line accounts up to 5 numbers to choose from on plans with 900 or more minutes, and family plan accounts up to 10 numbers to choose from on plans with 1,400 or more minutes.

Virgin Mobile: Virgin Mobile relies on Sprint’s network, and with Sprint Nextel’s planned purchase of Virgin Mobile, which the company hopes to complete this November, it may soon become Sprint Nextel’s in-house prepaid service.  Virgin Mobile introduced its Totally Unlimited calling plan on April 15.  For $50 a month, customers get unlimited calling.  For an additional fee, unlimited texting is added, along with mobile data options.

It’s difficult, at best, to make the kind of analogy the broadband industry wants to regarding “paying for what you use” when one of their closest cousins is competing hard to give you “all that you want for one price.”

Update: 9/15 — Jayne Wallace, a representative for Sprint Nextel, wrote to clarify “Sprint Nextel has not yet purchased Virgin Mobile…we do expect the deal to close in November. As of now, we are publicly held. Also since you mention broadband, we’ve also applied the pay as you go pricing here with Broadband2Go, the only nationwide prepaid broadband product available.”  The article text under Virgin Mobile has been adjusted to reflect the planned purchase.