Archives for April 2016

Why broadband speed tests suck

Everyone is familiar with broadband ‘speed test’ applications. When you have an ISP service quality problem, it is common to grab one of these tools to see if you are getting the service you feel you are entitled to get.

The challenge of compassion for charlatans

I am struggling with a minor issue of conscience, so I would like to get it out of my head and into words. The problem I see is of professional charlatans involved in telecoms policymaking. Many hold academic or lobbying positions. These people do significant harm to the public. What should be my and your […]

The Future of Everything – IoE

I was asked this week to present at a private workshop on the Internet of Everything (IoE). The issue was how the telecoms industry can be prepared, and what needs to change.

Computation, meet translocation

I don’t like to boast, but… No, let me start that again. I absolutely love to boast, and knowing it’s highly unseemly, I try (and sometimes fail) to moderate the urge. Anyhow, 27 years ago this year I started a degree in Mathematics and Computation at the University of Oxford. I even graduated, three years later, with […]

New revenue models for the ‘software telco’

I was recently asked how telcos might come up with new business models for a world where all resources are under software control. The core idea is to match network supply and demand in space and time (and at all timescales). I’ve typed up my notes for the curious to critique.

Why you should demand #NetMorality instead of #NetNeutrality

I have come to the conclusion that “net neutrality” is an ethical issue at heart, one about the appropriate constraint of unfair ISP power. Some people are (I pray unintentionally) on the wrong side of a now-clear moral divide. They are claiming to prevent harmful abuse of power, when in reality their actions create fresh […]

2006-2016: A “net neutrality” retrospective

Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. – Carl Sagan I gave the following speech at the Freedom to Connect conference in Washington DC on April 3rd, 2006. I was on stage following Tim Wu, who coined the term “net neutrality”, and […]