Telecom web rules change under fire

Telecom's move away from a standard measure of minimum broadband speeds is drawing fire from its resellers and the internet watchdog.

The standard method - known in technical jargon as the contention ratio - measures how a single internet connection from a telephone exchange is split between users. With a contention of 50:1, one user shares broadband connection with 49 others. The connection speed is thus divided by the users who are online at a given time.

Telecom says it is moving away from using contention ratios because the method is too simplistic and does not take into account how customers actually use their connections.

"Contention is too crude a mechanism to use for proper service performance management," said Stephen Crombie, Telecom's general manager of technology and capability transformation. "One thing we can't control is the user dynamic and that's the problem with a fixed rule."

Telecom is instead adopting a "more refined" network performance system that will apportion bandwidth to customers based on their usage.

Light-user customers - those who use their broadband connection for simple email or web surfing - will get lower speeds. Heavier users, such as file sharers and gamers, will get more.

Internet service providers that resell Telecom broadband, such as ihug and CallPlus, have objected to the new approach and said users were not getting any guarantees on minimum speeds. The ISPs have suggested the contention ratio of Telecom's new broadband plans, launched on April 2, is significantly higher than it used to be, up to 148:1.

Crombie denied the ratio was that high and said the average across Telecom's plans was 33:1.

He also said Telecom spent $6 million on the new system, which will be fully operational by August and be able to monitor the performance of every single broadband connection. A Telecom spokesman said the company would also announce minimum speed guarantees at that time.

But watchdog InternetNZ said Telecom's move was alarming because it could potentially clear the way for the implementation of a "two-tiered" internet, wherein some types of users and providers were given preference.

"It is dire, actually," said InternetNZ president Colin Jackson.

Telecom denied it had any intention of instituting preferential treatment to users or content providers.

Crombie said Telecom's move was not unusual. "Most operators don't disclose this in depth but it is a common way of managing service performance."