IP Democracy: Verizon's 80% Plan Not as Problematic as Purported

Courtesy of Patrick Hynes at The Channel Changer, this article from Ars Technica takes a closer look at the allegations that Verizon plans to keep 80% of its network for itself, leaving only 20% for the open Internet.

As I suspected, this allegation falls more into the category of “scare tactic” than it does legitimate concern. As the article points out, even 20% of a fiber-based network is a whole lot of capacity.

We contacted Dr. Marvin Sirbu, Professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and an FTTP expert to see how the numbers really add up. In short, there’s almost no cause for concern that Verizon’s own traffic will relegate other services to the dark alleys of the Fios network. The video is actually being delivered on a separate wavelength from the other services. According to Sirbu, roughly 3.5Gbps of the network’s capacity will be allocated for downstream video. That leaves 620Mbps of bandwidth for ‘Net traffic, which is split up between the 32 users on each Broadband Passive Optical Network node. Once Verizon switches to Gigabit PON, that number will rise to 2.4Gbps. Video on demand will be delivered via IPTV.

If that’s correct, then Verizon’s allocation of 20% to third party uses translates into 19.375 Mbps Internet service per user, and once Verizon switches to passive optical network technology, that capacity increases by at least one-thousand fold. (Can some engineering type fill in the correct numbers for me?)

I’m not being an apologist here for Verizon or the telcos — far from it. But, if you’re engaging in a political fight, at least be accurate with your aim and don’t drum up problems that don’t exist.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on February 3, 2006 2:49 PM to IP Democracy