The Big Blog

Parliaments across Europe renew calls to protect net neutrality

This month saw progress on the net neutrality front in Europe, with several parliaments raising the tone. We had just learnt that the Berlin city state's coalition government had declared its support for the principle of network neutrality. Then, in a motion adopted on 17 November the Parliament of Luxembourg demanded that the principle of net neutrality should be (i) enshrined in national law and (ii) its respect promoted throughout the EU. Echoing the sentiments of their counterparts in France or the Netherlands, the Luxembourg 'députés' highlighted that (our translation):

"net neutrality is a founding principle of the Internet, which excludes discrimination with regards to source or origin or content of data packets, and guarantees a strictly equitable access to the Internet for users; the neutrality of the Internet is undoubtedly responsible for economic innovation, citizen and social participation, information pluralism, and diffusion of knowledge."

They concluded that:

"considering that any exception to the principle of net neutrality must be defined by law and controlled by the regulator ... that there are currently some network operators and ISPs who attempt to disrupt net neutrality for reasons of profit maximisation ... [the Parliament] invites the Government to inscribe the principle of net neutrality in law."

The same day, the European Parliament voted by a large majority a resolution to keep the Internet open and neutral. Members of the European Parliament called on the European Commission to monitor Internet traffic management practices, in particular to ensure that "Internet Service Providers do not block, discriminate against or impair the ability of any person to use or offer any service, content or application of their choice irrespective of source or target". They also called on the European Commission to provide EU-wide guidelines to ensure that EU telecoms rules on net neutrality are properly applied and enforced. MEPs also asked the Commission to assess, within six months of the publication of a report on an investigation by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), whether further regulation is needed to ensure freedom of expression, freedom of access of information, freedom of choice for consumers and media pluralism.

Next, EU ministers plan to adopt conclusions on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 13 December 2011. That will follow UK regulator Ofcom's statement on net neutrality on 24th November where they made it clear that they would consider taking action if "the current blocking of services by mobile operators remained widespread and consistent".

All this is encouraging. But there is a long way to go unless the authorities truly raise the pressure.

Users and Internet innovators, freedom of expression and citizen activists, and generally right-minded people including now, parliamentarians, are all asking for an open Internet; for the ability for people to do what they want on the Internet, not what they are being told or 'allowed' to do (across the EU, there are reports that VoIP but also IM, P2P, video, audio, software updates, and more are routinely discriminated against). We've had a lot of talk; now we need action to restore the freedom for any European to access all the information, content, apps and services of their choice on the Internet, without any artificial barriers.

Variability of Video Calling Experience

With millions of people using Skype around the world, we can glean global insights on the quality and openness of the Internet. From anonymous feedback that people on Skype provide us through their rating of video calls, we've put together an analysis of the varying quality and experience of Skype video calling by location. Our goal is to allow people on Skype to compare their experience with Skype video calling to that of others in the same location to determine if using a different network provider might improve their call quality.

Key findings

• In poor network conditions users give a low user rating to the calls made from the network.


• There are clear differences between and within countries in the (call quality) performance of different networks and network providers.


• Knowing the performance of the network you use compared to others in the same location can provide users with an opportunity to evaluate using other networks/providers, if your call quality is being impaired.

Detailed results

We start by comparing the ratings given to Skype video calls by people located in various countries. We conclude with a look into the variability of quality within countries.

In the figure above, we have divided countries into four equal groups based on average feedback ratings provided by people making Skype video calls during the month of September 2011. The highest quarter represents countries with the best video calling experience and lowest quarter represents the lowest quality video calling experience. Please note that the countries shaded gray are those from which we have not yet received sufficient feedback to draw clear conclusions on call quality.

While the figure above demonstrates the differences in Skype video call quality globally, we are also interested in developing a better understanding of the differences in call quality within countries. By comparing our users feedback from different networks within each country, we can better understand what opportunities exist for Skype users to improve their calling experience, as well as better understand the source of the variation of calling quality.

Each Internet Service Provider (ISP) uses at least one officially registered Autonomous System Number (ASN) to identify them within the Internet core routing fabric. In the figure below, we have plotted the average user-feedback rating for each ASN within a country. Following the plot horizontally for a given country will give you an impression of the variation in quality of the Skype video calling experience. In this study, we have used a relative quality scale, where the highest rating is given to the ASN with highest user feedback rating. All other ASNs are rated as a percentage from the highest rating.

In the data that we are providing, we have not distinguished between mobile and fixed-network connection providers. Instead, we have marked networks that have more than 50% of video calls made using a point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection. ISPs use PPP to give dial up Internet access to their customers, for example over 3G mobile networks, whose network characteristics may differ significantly from regular, fixed-line types of connections. We also distinguish large networks for which we received a lot of user feedback.

At Skype we are constantly working to deliver the best possible call quality and highest satisfaction for all Skype users. We want everyone using Skype to have a high-quality video calling experience; independent of the network they are on. As can be seen from the figure above, there is significant variation in user experience by location/country. We have explored some of the reasons for low user ratings by modelling them with objective network quality parameters such as allocated bandwidth, round-trip time, jitter and packet loss. Through this modelling, we've found that there is correlation between different network quality technical parameters and average feedback ratings of the network. We conclude that in many cases, users in the countries featured in the second figure who are experiencing poor video call quality may be able to significantly increase their call quality by evaluating / selecting alternative network providers.

Data used

The data used in our analysis is based on anonymized feedback on Skype two-way video calls made in September 2011. We used data only from calls made between the released (non Beta) 5.x versions of Windows clients (earlier than versions 5.5 and 5.6). This data was selected to avoid bias due to differences in platform and version usage. Additionally, for calculating average user feedback rating for networks, we used only calls with a direct (UDP transport stream) connection in order to avoid bias resulting from differences due to transport streams and relayed calls.

User feedback was collected based on random sampling. After each call, there is a random mechanism which decides whether to trigger a pop-up window on any of the participant's clients, where the user can rate the call quality in the form of a subjective opinion score that ranges in between 1 = very bad, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good and 5 = excellent. Subjective opinion scores from each consistent set of users were subsequently averaged for networks and countries. Since we ask user feedback from only a small fraction of calls, we excluded smaller networks from the study, and used only networks where we had more than 1000 user feedbacks collected during September. To be able to present differences within countries, we used only countries with at least 3 different networks.

Notes
All data analysis was done using the R Project software for Statistical Computing [http://www.r-project.org/].
The data includes GeoLite data created by MaxMind, available from http://www.maxmind.com/.
The shapefile used by R libraries was obtained from http://thematicmapping.org/downloads/world_borders.php, originally downloaded from the Mapping Hacks website: http://www.mappinghacks.com/data/. The world borders dataset is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. [http://creativecommons.org/]

The open Internet: platform for growth

The open Internet is an essential platform for growth and benefits for all, including telecom operators: it has to be safeguarded.

We have said it for a long time: preserving the open Internet and net neutrality is crucial for everyone. A new report confirms this passionate belief of ours, in research by Plum Consulting commissioned by the BBC, Blinkbox, the UK's Channel 4, Skype and Yahoo!.

Not only that, the research demonstrates that a few myths about net neutrality are false:

• Rather than worrying, the increasing demand for Internet content is good as it supports revenue growth and broadband investment
• Telecom providers' costs are not ballooning because of data growth
• Content and application providers do not cause traffic
• Content and application providers invest considerably in distribution infrastructure and technologies and do not 'free ride' on networks
• Investment in next generation broadband would not necessarily increase, and may even decrease, if content and application providers were required to pay for users to enjoy their apps and services.

Without an open Internet - which enables content providers to invest in developing innovative apps and services, that will fuel growth in uptake of high-speed broadband - telecoms companies would experience a rapid decline in revenues. In fact, the demand for broadband connectivity stimulated by Internet content and application providers drove fixed and mobile broadband revenues for telecom operators of approximately €155 billion a year in Europe.

The report concludes that the open Internet is the most efficient model in delivering continued benefits for consumers and the economy, including telecoms operators. It recommends that additional safeguards are put in place to maintain a high quality open Internet, which sustains innovation and drives growth.

With this report, we hope that all parties involved in the 'net neutrality' debate will come to realise that the Internet value chain is a symbiotic ecosystem - we are complementary - and that the open Internet is a platform that benefits all of us, and which should be safeguarded.

Download the report here:
Plum_October2011_The_open_internet_-_a_platform_for_growth.pdf

Skype is in 'Da House

Being a Member of Congress means juggling a schedule that would be unthinkable for most of us. Members travel back and forth between Washington, D.C. and their home districts several times a month. This travel schedule has become more important as Members are under increasing pressure to maintain a consistent presence in their district. At the beginning of this year, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced a new Congressional calendar intended to improve efficiency of the House while also enabling Members to spend more time with their constituents. Skype users have long realized the power of real-time video calling to bring the world closer without the luxury or obligation of frequent trips to the airport.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Administration announced that they will open up the world of Skype communications to Members of Congress and their staff. Now, Members of Congress can reduce travel time and related costs while increasing and improving communications, transparency, and government accountability through the experience of Skype video calling. Skype enables lawmakers to hold meetings with their constituents who are unable to travel to the Congressional office, participate in virtual town hall meetings when the Member is not in her District, and build relationships and collaborate more effectively with other Members on important legislative efforts.

Skype's engineers worked closely with the Congressional network security team to ensure that Skype is used safely for official business. From my interactions with the House information security team, this was critically important to approving the use of Skype. Each of the Congressional offices will have access to their own Skype Manager account, so one central person in each office can administer the Skype accounts. In addition, Members of Congress and their staff can personally configure important privacy settings to provide the highest level of security available on Skype, and as always, the Skype software allows people to accept or block a contact, and it never "answers" a call unless instructed to do so by the user. In other words, Skype video calls are initiated only when users at all ends of the call make the affirmative choice to enable video calling.

We look forward to working with the U.S. Senate, as well as other government agencies and lawmakers around the globe to facilitate the use of Skype and other broadband-enabled applications. Skype will open up new channels of communication between government officials and the people they represent, and potentially help reduce costs, increase transparency, and improve communications, which is something I think we all agree is a good thing. As I said in my post last summer, Skype is neither a partisan communications tool, nor is it just for tech savvy Members such as Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who, prior to being elected to Congress founded several Internet companies. Millions of Skype users can't be wrong. Skype brings the world closer, now including Members of Congress.

A Victory for Innovators and Consumers: Net Neutrality in the Netherlands

Yesterday in the The Hague, the Dutch Parliament voted for amendments aimed at preventing mobile operators from blocking, or charging extra for, their customers' use of independent applications like Skype on their mobile phones.

To most people, this sounds like a re-statement of common sense: if a consumer purchases a mobile Internet access plan, he or she should be able to decide which content and applications to access, without being arbitrarily hindered or charged twice to access particular content and applications. In the curious world of the European mobile operator, however, this is not common sense at all.

Mobile operators in the Netherlands began blocking and double charging for certain network independent content and apps. The Dutch Economics Minister, Maxime Verhagen, rightly deemed this behaviour intolerable and Parliament struck a significant blow for consumer rights with the passing of the amendments yesterday.

As the groundswell of public and political support for open access to the Internet grows, expect to see governments across Europe fall into line with the Dutch. We - Skype - will continue to press the case for the legal codification of such consumer protections in Brussels and EU Member State capitals. In the meantime, to the Dutch we say "Heel goed gedaan!"

As the G8 talks Net, the Netherlands decides to protect Net Neutrality in law

This week I was at the "eG8 Forum" in Paris. Many leading figures of the Internet world spoke at this event leading up to the meeting of the world's 8 leading economies, including Skype's co-founder Niklas Zennström. Another Internet hero, Professor Lawrence Lessig, together with Susan Crawford, Yochai Benkler, and French NGO La Quadrature du Net, released a call for G8 leaders to protect the open and free Internet signed by more than 30 citizen and user associations worldwide.

The press headlines focused on what they saw as President Sarkozy's calls for governments to regulate the Internet, and other heads of state's disagreement. The big news for the Internet this week didn't happen at this Paris show however, but in the Netherlands (and I don't think it has to do with Skype having had its annual company meeting in Amsterdam in March).

Recently there have been heated debates in the Dutch parliament and a very vocal campaign by citizens and NGOs, after it became clear that all 3 Dutch mobile operators would either forbid or surcharge people using Internet apps like Skype or WhatsApp. Following the adoption of a parliamentary motion, the Dutch Telecom Minister Maxime Verhagen finally announced this week that he would introduce an amendment to the Telecom Law to explicitly forbid the blocking, degradation, or surcharge of Internet applications, making specific reference to Skype - basically, protecting net neutrality in Dutch law. Though the detailed text has yet to be made available, and text has yet to be ratified by the Dutch parliament, this move is one of the most serious and welcome steps towards protecting end-users' rights and fostering innovation in Europe.

Now we need the same action to protect online freedoms in facts, rather than mere words, across Europe (and beyond) because the Old Continent is still rife with 'unternets' where in one form or another, users are far from being able to do what they want and express themselves freely online (as noted in a map of Europe this week devised by OWNI). If you continue to face hurdles in using Skype on any Internet-connected device, contact your ISP, contact your local consumer association, contact your member of parliament or of the European Parliament- make your voice heard so that your Internet freedom is respected.

Calling the UK Minister to act to protect the open Internet

Today, a group of 18 organizations representing a broad spectrum of society and the economy has sent an open letter to Ed Vaizey, MP (PDF), the UK Minister in charge of digital issues, to call on the UK Government to reflect their recent commitment to the open Internet in action on the ground. Skype is part of this initiative because we believe it is important to remind policy makers, local governments and regulators throughout Europe that a verbal commitment will not be sufficient to establish and protect openness.

We strongly welcome the UK Government's recent statement of support for the open Internet, but we must not forget about the existing restrictions in place in the UK and many other countries around the globe. For example, in countries like France, Germany, Spain, or the UK (to name only a few), several, if not all, mobile operators prohibit their customers from using Skype on their mobiles or they only allow Skype usage at extra cost. Similar restrictions affect many other uses of the Internet, such as video, audio, instant messaging, streaming, P2P, etc. In order to remove these restrictions, the governments and regulatory authorities in these countries - including the UK - need to make sure that:

1. Users can send and receive the content, use the services and run the applications of their choice on the Internet, on the device of their choice


2. Traffic management is kept to a minimum, and only in place for purely technical or security reasons


3. There is meaningful transparency for consumers about traffic management


4. New models of Internet access don't compromise openness


5. Effective enforcement mechanisms are in place to ensure openness

As I stated in an earlier blog post, we already have European legislation to protect net neutrality and the open Internet. That's a great first step. Now, it is crucial that national authorities take it from there and start to implement these rules in order to protect the open Internet and associated consumer rights on the ground, and pave the way for future innovation on the Internet - in ways that will benefit the whole value chain, and the wider economy and society.

EU laws already protect the open Internet: let's enforce them now to stop the rise of the 'unternets'

There’s a sign in a street near the Skype office which reads: I can’t understand why people are afraid of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. I like that. It is actually indicative of some of the things we witness in the world of Internet access today: a desire by some to change the Internet to lots of little old-style ‘unternets’, away from the current openness where anyone can put their opinion, apps, services online, and anyone can access these, whether on fixed or mobile devices, without asking prior permission from anyone.

Last Thursday I was in Brussels at the EU Net Neutrality Summit where I explained this: the open character of the Internet is the fundamental reason and foundation behind all the benefits derived from the advent of the Internet over the past twenty years by users - citizens, society and the economy. But we see restrictions being put in place arbitrarily by some mobile operators in Europe on what end-users can do online; and what innovators can do online. These restrictions could lead us away from the open Internet towards the emergence of several separate subnets – what I think of as ‘unternets’: that is, a net with video, another net for voice over IP but not video, another net for news and email but not VoIP and gaming, an extensive Internet for those that can afford to pay a lot, or a very basic net with only a few chosen apps and websites for those that cannot pay enough — in short, a situation which would considerably diminish the economic and social utility of the Internet, and would reinforce the digital divide.

Fortunately in Europe, we already have basic legislation to protect the open Internet and net neutrality. EU telecom law revised in 2009 includes a policy principle to foster the open Internet, transparency requirements so that consumers will know what access they’re really buying, and powers for regulators to take action against those network operators that restrict the open Internet. That’s on top of a long-standing rule protecting end to end connectivity.

Last week in Brussels, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes highlighted her use (and enjoyment!) of Skype, and encouraged consumers to boycott those operators that don’t allow Skype. A lot of you might want to follow her call to action. If you can.

Unfortunately, voting with your feet is not that easily done, even in a market considered competitive like in the EU. We’re still very far from having transparent information on exactly what data access we’re buying in many countries in Europe, and people often don’t have enough choice or face too many difficulties if they want to switch. For instance,

• You can’t vote with your feet in France, where ALL mobile operators have restrictions in place on using VoIP (or peer-to-peer or newsgroups);
• What if, like millions of Europeans, you’re in an area where just one network provider is available?
• How easy is it to switch if you subscribe to a ‘bundle’ when you get TV, phone and Internet in one package?
• What if you are locked in a 24-month-long, or even 12-month-long, contract?
• Switching Internet provider is proven to be one of the biggest difficulties for consumers, even in the supposedly most competitive markets in Europe: in the UK for instance, the regulator Ofcom stated that switching rates for Internet access are lower than for any other utilities like electricity or gas (PDF), and as recently as in September 2010 found that almost half of UK consumers find switching broadband provider ‘too much hassle’.
• even if you could switch, will you do so just for a few apps, or even for the more famous ones, when switching depends on (and is complicated by) so many other factors like price and speed and volume?
• Now, even if you do switch, will you be able to find the provider that allows you to use the app you would like to use? How can you tell that your provider doesn’t throttle down the performance of your favourite app?
• Finally, how long is it going to take to improve switching? By the time it is sorted out in 10 years’ time, how many Internet start-ups and SMEs, how many online innovations will be out of business or simply not created for fear of being arbitrarily restricted? Do we want to take that risk and miss out entirely on the promise of a ‘Digital Europe’ and a truly interconnected world?

What we need now is more than a call to switch: we need the EU authorities to make sure that the telecom legislation will not be alleviated when brought into force in 2011 in the EU member states. They need to issue guidance (such as a Commission “Recommendation” as suggested by French MEP Catherine Trautman) to reaffirm the EU’s long-standing commitment to the open Internet and clarify both the criteria for what is reasonable traffic management, and how national communications regulators will be able to deploy their new powers in practice in order to prevent or stop the restrictions to the open Internet witnessed already today. A robust implementation into the various national laws around Europe must be the goal – and it must support the action needed as an immediate follow-up wherever operators offer an ‘unternet’ access that deprives consumers, society and the economy from all that the Internet has to offer.

A little plug for the European Parliament website: see some video extracts of the Summit here.

EU Vice-President Neelie Kroes joins the Skype crew in Tallinn

Neelie Kroes (second from right) at the Skype office in Tallinn

Skype is proud to be one of the few global Internet innovations that comes from Europe. So today it was a pleasure and honour to welcome in Skype’s Tallinn office (our ‘birthplace’, so to speak) Neelie Kroes, the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the EU’s “Digital Agenda”.

Mrs Kroes visited our research labs and experienced first-hand some of the cool innovations that Skypers have been working on hard in the labs recently including group video calling.

Now Mrs Kroes knows that ‘old Europe’ can still come up with innovations like Skype that revolutionise the world. In a speech earlier this month entitled “Europe 3.0”, she had already challenged students at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, asking: “will you join me in building this new mindset? Will you found the next Skype?” Going forwards, we will work with her to contribute to her initiative for ‘Digital Europe’, so that thanks to forward-looking government policies and protections such as net neutrality, Skype can continue to flourish, build new mindsets and change the world for the better, and so that many more innovators and online entrepreneurs emerge and succeed in Europe.

Stand up for freedom on the web (Round 2: the UK and EU)

Back in April, I encouraged everyone to respond to the French authorities’ consultations on net neutrality. Thank you very, very much to all of you Internet users, software developers, and other good people who spoke out in favour of the open Internet.

Late July, French Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet sent her report to the French Parliament (not public yet… suspense). Just before her, as summer approached, the French telecoms regulator ARCEP had produced ‘initial policy directions on Internet and network neutrality’ which included some really good proposals such as the following:

• “[a provider of] Internet access ... must be obligated, in accordance with the legal provisions in effect, to furnish end users with the ability to:
  • send and receive the content of their choice;
  • use the services and run the applications of their choice;
  • connect the hardware and use the programmes of their choice, provided they do not harm the network.”
• “the traffic management practices that ISPs employ to ensure Internet access [must] remain exceptional and comply with the general principles of relevance, proportionality, efficiency, transparency and non discrimination.”
• “A connection to the Internet must be provided with a sufficient and transparent quality of service. To guarantee this, the Authority is launching sector-specific efforts to qualify the minimum quality of service parameters for Internet access, and is working to implement specific indicators.”
• and among other good positions, ARCEP specifically remarked on Skype use that “In particular, even in data offers that are not qualified as “Internet access,” it does not seem legitimate to block voice over IP services (such as Skype) since they do not consume more bandwidth than other services that are currently accessible via mobile networks.” Hear hear.

So: thanks to ARCEP for their encouraging suggestions, and we hope they adopt them formally very soon so that French Internet users can benefit from access to all of the Internet, not a subset of it as they do now because of the French mobile operators’ restrictions (did I mention that you are forbidden to use VoIP, newsgroups and P2P on the iPad in France (see here in footnotes and here under ‘mentions légales’). That’s where the emoticon comes in handy).

Now we can do a little bit more to protect the open Internet elsewhere in the world, by responding to similar consultations by the UK and by the EU authorities.

In the UK, some of the mobile operators restrict Internet access in major ways, either prohibiting VoIP and Skype usage, or requiring users to pay a surcharge. Some also forbid the use of online audio, video, streaming, peer-to-peer apps and services – in short, they don’t let you enjoy most of the Internet. The UK communications regulator Ofcom has produced a discussion paper on ‘traffic management and net neutrality’ – which does not seem to consider all these restrictions a problem at all - and is asking for comments by 9 September.

In Brussels, the European Commission is asking for comments by 30 September on its (promising) ‘public consultation on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe’ (PDF). On the basis of the response, the Commission will make proposals to the European Parliament by the end of the year on how to protect the open Internet. That will impact all 500 million Europeans and how they can use and enjoy the Internet. As was explained by the Romanian telecoms regulator who is encouraging people to respond to the Commission, “It is important to have as many respondents … as possible to ensure that their interests will be reflected in the regulations the Commission might propose after analysing the consultation results”.

If, like us all at Skype, you care passionately about ensuring that (in Europe and elsewhere in the world) the Internet remains the unique and wonderful tool for freedom of expression and communication, choice and innovation, and the free flow of information that we have come to cherish over the past twenty years, it is imperative that you make your voice heard by responding to these consultations: here for the UK consultation, and here for the EU consultation.

Let’s get proper protections of the open Internet in place, where we Internet users – not anyone else - choose what we do online, and where ‘innovation without having to ask for permission’ is the norm. If you need inspiration on how to respond, look at the ARCEP suggestions mentioned above and at the petition for an open Internet in Europe. A little bit more effort and we can make sure we will always enjoy a free and open Internet – let’s do it.