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Expert Opinion: ‘Making Sense of Data Caps and Tiered Pricing in Broadband and Mobile Networks’

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11 years ago

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By Nick Feamster, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Georgia Tech  (The original version of this article is posted in Dr. Feamster’s Blog ‘Connection Management’)

WASHINGTON, February 27th, 2013 — Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel of the Broadband Breakfast Club at Clyde’s of Gallery Place in downtown Washington, DC.  The Broadband Breakfast Club is an event series, hosting events once a month, focusing on policy issues related to broadband service in the United States. It is organized by BroadbandBreakfast.com, a broadband policy news and events organization based in Washington.

I was previously asked to sit on a panel on measuring broadband performance, due to our ongoing work on BISmark, but I was unable to make the date last fall, so I found myself on a panel on data caps in wired and wireless networks.

I participated on the panel with the following other panelists: Serena Viswanathan, Staff Attorney at the Federal Trade Commission; Patrick Lucey, Policy Program Associate at the New America Foundation; and Roger Entner, Founder of Recon Analytics.  A keynote speech with presentation was provided by Ruth Milkman, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the FCC. The panel discussed a variety of topics surrounding data caps in broadband networks, but the high level question that the panel circled around was: Do data caps (and tiered pricing) yield positive outcomes for the consumer?

We had an interesting discussion.  Roger Entner espoused the opinion that data caps really only affect the worst offenders, and that applications on mobile devices now make it much easier for users to manage their data caps. Therefore, data caps shouldn’t be regarded as oppressive, but rather are simply a way for Internet service providers and mobile carriers to recoup costs for the most aggressive users.  Patrick Lucey, who recently posted on a study he co-authored for the New America Foundation on data caps, stated a counterpoint that echoed his recent article, suggesting that data caps were essentially a profit generator for ISPs, and consumers are effectively captured because they have no real choice for providers.

I spent some time explaining the tool that Marshini Chetty and my students have built on top of BISmark called uCap (longer paper here).  Briefly, uCap is a tool that allows home network users to determine the devices in their home that consume the most data.  It also allows users to see what domains they are visiting that consume the most bandwidth.  It does not, however, tell the user which applications or people are using the most bandwidth (more on that below).  Below is a screenshot of uCap that shows device usage over time. My students have also built a similar tool for mobile devices called MySpeedTest, which tells users which applications are consuming the most data on their phones.  A screenshot of the MySpeedTest panel that shows how different applications consume usage is shown below (Click to enlarge):

uCap Screenshot Showing Device Usage Over Time and MySpeedTest Showing Mobile Application Usage

I used these two example applications to argue that usage caps per se are not necessarily a bad thing if the user has ways to manage these usage caps.  In fact, we have repeatedly seen evidence that tiered pricing (or usage caps) can actually improve both ISP profit and make consumers better off, if the consumer understands how different applications consume their usage cap and has ways to manage the usage of those applications.  Indeed, our past research has shown how tiered pricing can improve market efficiency, because the price of connectivity more closely reflects the cost to the provider of carrying specific data.  Further, we’ve seen examples where consumers have actually been worse off when regulators have stepped in to prevent tiered pricing, such as the events in summer 2011 when KPN customers all experienced a price increase for connectivity because KPN was prevented from introducing two tiers of service.

The problem isn’t so much that tiered pricing is bad—it is that users don’t understand it, and they currently don’t have good tools to help them understand it.  In the panel, I informally polled the room—ostensibly filled with broadband experts—about whether they could tell me off the top of their heads how much data a 2-hour high-definition Netflix movie would consume against their usage cap.  Only two or three hands went up in a room of 50 people.

I also confessed that before installing uCap and watching my usage in conjunction with specific applications, I had no idea how much data different applications consumed, or whether I was a so-called “heavy user” (it turns out I am not).  My own experience—and Marshini Chetty’s ongoing work—has shown that people are really bad at estimating how much of their data cap applications consume.  One interesting observation in Marshini’s work is that people conflate the time that they spend on a site with the amount of data it must consume  (“I spend most of my time on Facebook, therefore, it must consume most of my data cap”).

If we are going to move towards pervasive data caps or tiered pricing models, then users need better tools to understand how applications consume data caps and to manage how different applications consume those caps.  I see two possibilities for better applications going forward:

• Better visibility.  We need applications like uCap and MySpeedTest to help users understand how different applications consume their data cap.  Helping users get a better handle on how different applications consume data is the first step towards making tiered pricing something that users can cope with.  In addition to the applications that show usage directly, we might also consider other forms of visibility, such as information that helps users estimate a total cost of ownership for running a mobile application (e.g., the free application might actually cost the user more in the long run, if downloading the advertisements to support the free application eats into the user’s data cap).  We also need better ways of fingerprinting devices; applications like uCap still force users to identify devices (note the obscure MAC addresses in the dashboard above for devices on my network that I didn’t bother to manually identify).  Solving these problems requires both deep domain knowledge about networking and intuition and expertise in human factors and interface design.

• Better control.  This area deserves much more attention.  uCap offers some nice first steps towards giving users control because it helps users control how much data a particular device can send.  But, shouldn’t we be solving this problem in other ways, as well?  For example, we might imagine exposing an SDK to application developers that helps them write applications that are more cognizant of data constraints—for example, by deferring updates when a user is near his or her cap, or deferring downloads until “off peak” times or when a user is on a WiFi network.  There are interesting potential developments in both applications and operating systems that could make tiered pricing and demand-side management more palatable, much like appliances in our homes are now being engineered to adapt to variable electricity pricing.

Finally, Patrick made a point that even if users could understand and control usage caps, they often don’t have any reasonable alternatives if they decide they don’t like their current ISP’s policies.  So, while some of the technological developments we discussed may make a user’s life easier, these improvements are, in some sense, a red herring if a user cannot have some amount of choice over their Internet service provider.  This issue of consumer choice (or lack thereof) does appear to be the elephant in the room for many of the policy discussions surrounding data caps, tiered pricing, and network neutrality.  Yet, until the issues of choice are solved, improving both visibility and control in the technologies that we develop can allow both users and ISPs to be better off in a realm where tiered pricing and data caps exist—a realm which, I would argue, is not only inevitable but also potentially beneficial for both ISPs and consumers.

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Sylvia manages the Broadband Breakfast Club, on-the-record monthly discussion groups that meet on the THIRD Tuesday of each month. She has had a long career in non-profit development and administration, and has raised funds for technology and science education, and managed a project on health information exchange adopted by the State of New York. She understands community education and infrastructure needs for effective broadband access.

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Experts Disagree on Net Neutrality Legal Ground

The Supreme Court has shown less deference to federal agencies in recent years, a BBLO panel heard.

Published

2 days ago

on

September 27, 2023

By

Screenshot of the event on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, September 27, 2023 – Experts disagreed at a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event on Wednesday whether reinstituted Federal Communications Commission rules on net neutrality would survive legal challenges. 

The FCC announced on Tuesday that it is looking to reinstate its 2015 net neutrality regulations, which involve categorizing broadband internet as a Title II service under the Communications Act of 1934. That would give the commission more muscle to regulate the industry, on par with its authority over telephone companies.

In particular, the commission is looking to prevent carriers from throttling or increasing users’ speed depending on the site they want to access.

The move survived legal scrutiny in 2016, when the D.C. Court of Appeals held the agency had the authority to classify technologies under the act as it saw fit. The Supreme Court would ultimately refuse to hear the case and let the D.C. ruling stand.

Berin Szoka, president of policy think tank TechFreedom, said Wednesday the legal landscape has changed since then, with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that is more willing to tell federal agencies they are overstepping their boundaries.

“In the last six years, the ground has shifted very significantly,” he said.

He pointed to a dissent from then-D.C. Circuit judge Brett Kavanaugh when the court refused to rehear the net neutrality case. Kavanaugh, now part of a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, argued the FCC’s move to reclassify broadband was too drastic for it to do without explicit authorization from Congress.

“That was a dissent in 2017. That’s now the Court’s majority position,” he said, referring to the so-called major questions doctrine. Under the doctrine, the Supreme Court has ruled in recent years that federal agencies cannot enact policies that address major economic or political questions without explicit congressional authorization, giving agencies less authority to regulate as they see fit.

Stephanie Joyce, chief of staff and senior vice president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a tech trade group, said the doctrine might not apply to the FCC’s action at all.

She compared net neutrality rules to the EPA’s attempt to transition power plants to clean energy sources, which the Supreme Court nixed under the doctrine.

The EPA had not taken such a step before, she said, making it a bigger change in regulation than the FCC’s reclassification of broadband. That and other technology reclassifications have precedent at the commission, she said, including both the 2015 rules and a 1998 reclassification of DSL technology.

“I’m not sure the major questions doctrine is going to carry the day here,” she said.

Chip Pickering, CEO of another tech trade group, INCOMPAS, agreed that “there’s a lot of uncertainty” about how the Supreme Court would treat a challenge net neutrality rules from the FCC. But he said that a gridlocked Congress has little chance of enacting wider regulation on internet providers.

“Title II has, so far, been the only authority that’s been upheld on net neutrality,” he said. “And we have to act now.”

FCC commissioners will vote on whether to put up the proposed rules for public comment on October 19, barring a government shutdown.

Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. Watch the event on Broadband Breakfast, or REGISTER HERE to join the conversation.

BREAKING NEWS SESSION! Wednesday, September 27 – What Happens Next on Net Neutrality?

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wasted no time in promulgating rules regarding network neutrality. With Anna Gomez’ confirmation as the elusive fifth commissioner, Democrats finally have a majority at the agency. The chairwoman has said that she will put forward proposed rules on the topic at the agency’s open meeting on October 19. The partisan-tinged topic is expected to largely be a return of the 2015 rules under the agency’s authority under Title II of the Communications Act. One day after Rosenworcel’s Tuesday speech on net neutrality – and one day before the item is publicly released – Broadband Breakfast will convene industry and civil society stakeholders in a discussion about What Happens Next?

Panelists

  • Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS
  • Stephanie Joyce, Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President Computer & Communications Industry Association
  • Joe Kane, Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • David Zumwalt, CEO, WISPA: Broadband Without Boundaries
  • Berin Szoka, President, TechFreedom
  • Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist resources:

Please note: The originally scheduled Broadband Breakfast Live Online event, on renewing the Affordable Connectivity Program, will now take place on October 11, 2023.

For nearly three decades, Chip Pickering has been at the forefront of every major telecommunications milestone. From his time as a Senate staffer on the Commerce Committee shaping the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to his role as a Member of Congress leading on tech issues and overseeing the transition to the commercial internet, to serving as CEO of the leading internet and competitive networks association advocating for more competition and innovation in our ever-evolving industry. Through his leadership at INCOMPAS, Pickering continues to be a trusted voice and a leading expert on important issues facing the tech and telecommunications industry.

Stephanie Joyce joined CCIA after decades in private practice representing technology companies and competitive carriers before state and federal administrative agencies and courts. She is an experienced advocate for procompetitive policy, including her advocacy for CCIA at the FCC on broadband deployment and Open Internet rules. Stephanie has also provided counsel to telecommunications companies, as well as CCIA, on privacy matters. Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, received her graduate degree from George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and her law degree from George Washington University Law School.

Joe Kane is director of broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF. Previously, he was a technology policy fellow at the R Street Institute, where he covered spectrum policy, broadband deployment and regulation, competition, and consumer protection. Earlier, Joe was a graduate research fellow at the Mercatus Center, where he worked on Internet policy issues, telecom regulation, and the role of the FCC.

David Zumwalt is CEO & CEO of WISPA – Broadband Without Boundaries.WISPA represents the interests of innovative, often small ISPs that provide fixed wireless, fiber and other connectivity solutions to consumers, businesses, first responders and community anchor institutions in the digital divide.  Supported by a robust vendor and supplier ecosystem, these ISPs deliver primary broadband connectivity in traditionally underserved and unserved suburban, rural and tribal communities nationwide, with a growing subscriber base now reaching nine million Americans. Prior to WISPA he served as Chief Operating Officer of Broadband VI, a major Internet Service Provider in the US Virgin Islands.  He also served as the Executive Director of the University of the Virgin Islands Research & Technology Park, an instrumentality of the USVI government formed to establish and grow a vibrant knowledge-based sector in the Territory’s economy.  He also founded and served as Chairman and CEO of Dallas-based CNet, Inc., a leading provider of radio frequency (RF) engineering and operational support system software and services to the worldwide wireless communications industry, securing significant customer relationships in forty countries.

Berin Szoka serves as President of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative

Illustration by Bryce Durbin of TechCrunch

WATCH HERE, or on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

As with all Broadband Breakfast Live Online events, the FREE webcasts will take place at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

SUBSCRIBE to the Broadband Breakfast YouTube channel. That way, you will be notified when events go live. Watch on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

See a complete list of upcoming and past Broadband Breakfast Live Online events.

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Broadband Breakfast on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 – What Happens Next on Net Neutrality?

Industry and non-profit experts on both sides of net neutrality speak at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

Published

3 days ago

on

September 26, 2023

By

See Experts Disagree on Net Neutrality Legal Ground, Broadband Breakfast, September 27, 2023

Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. Watch the event on Broadband Breakfast, or REGISTER HERE to join the conversation.

BREAKING NEWS SESSION! Wednesday, September 27 – What Happens Next on Net Neutrality?

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wasted no time in promulgating rules regarding network neutrality. With Anna Gomez’ confirmation as the elusive fifth commissioner, Democrats finally have a majority at the agency. The chairwoman has said that she will put forward proposed rules on the topic at the agency’s open meeting on October 19. The partisan-tinged topic is expected to largely be a return of the 2015 rules under the agency’s authority under Title II of the Communications Act. One day after Rosenworcel’s Tuesday speech on net neutrality – and one day before the item is publicly released – Broadband Breakfast will convene industry and civil society stakeholders in a discussion about What Happens Next?

Panelists

  • Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS
  • Stephanie Joyce, Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President Computer & Communications Industry Association
  • Joe Kane, Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • David Zumwalt, CEO, WISPA: Broadband Without Boundaries
  • Berin Szoka, President, TechFreedom
  • Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist resources:

Please note: The originally scheduled Broadband Breakfast Live Online event, on renewing the Affordable Connectivity Program, will now take place on October 11, 2023.

For nearly three decades, Chip Pickering has been at the forefront of every major telecommunications milestone. From his time as a Senate staffer on the Commerce Committee shaping the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to his role as a Member of Congress leading on tech issues and overseeing the transition to the commercial internet, to serving as CEO of the leading internet and competitive networks association advocating for more competition and innovation in our ever-evolving industry. Through his leadership at INCOMPAS, Pickering continues to be a trusted voice and a leading expert on important issues facing the tech and telecommunications industry.

Stephanie Joyce joined CCIA after decades in private practice representing technology companies and competitive carriers before state and federal administrative agencies and courts. She is an experienced advocate for procompetitive policy, including her advocacy for CCIA at the FCC on broadband deployment and Open Internet rules. Stephanie has also provided counsel to telecommunications companies, as well as CCIA, on privacy matters. Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, received her graduate degree from George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and her law degree from George Washington University Law School.

Joe Kane is director of broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF. Previously, he was a technology policy fellow at the R Street Institute, where he covered spectrum policy, broadband deployment and regulation, competition, and consumer protection. Earlier, Joe was a graduate research fellow at the Mercatus Center, where he worked on Internet policy issues, telecom regulation, and the role of the FCC.

David Zumwalt is CEO & CEO of WISPA – Broadband Without Boundaries.WISPA represents the interests of innovative, often small ISPs that provide fixed wireless, fiber and other connectivity solutions to consumers, businesses, first responders and community anchor institutions in the digital divide.  Supported by a robust vendor and supplier ecosystem, these ISPs deliver primary broadband connectivity in traditionally underserved and unserved suburban, rural and tribal communities nationwide, with a growing subscriber base now reaching nine million Americans. Prior to WISPA he served as Chief Operating Officer of Broadband VI, a major Internet Service Provider in the US Virgin Islands.  He also served as the Executive Director of the University of the Virgin Islands Research & Technology Park, an instrumentality of the USVI government formed to establish and grow a vibrant knowledge-based sector in the Territory’s economy.  He also founded and served as Chairman and CEO of Dallas-based CNet, Inc., a leading provider of radio frequency (RF) engineering and operational support system software and services to the worldwide wireless communications industry, securing significant customer relationships in forty countries.

Berin Szoka serves as President of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative

Illustration by Bryce Durbin of TechCrunch

WATCH HERE, or on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

As with all Broadband Breakfast Live Online events, the FREE webcasts will take place at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

SUBSCRIBE to the Broadband Breakfast YouTube channel. That way, you will be notified when events go live. Watch on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

See a complete list of upcoming and past Broadband Breakfast Live Online events.

Continue Reading

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How to Watch the Videos from the BEAD Implementation Summit

The recordings of all the videos from the BEAD Implementation Summit are available to Breakfast Club members.

Published

1 week ago

on

September 22, 2023

By

Watch the videos from the BEAD Implementation Summit on September 21, 2023.

Those who attended the BEAD Implementation Summit or watched the webcast are able to access the videos. Members of the Broadband Breakfast Club also have access to the BEAD Implementation Summit videos, as well as videos of all in-person events.

If you missed BEAD Implementation Summit, sign up for Broadband Breakfast’s BEAD Starter Pack for $35/month (cancel anytime). You’ll get access to each of the Breakfast Club reports for the BEAD Implementation Summit:

Questions? Email drew@breakfast.media!

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