Connection Speed: ISPs to Offer Information on Traffic Management Policies

We’ve all been there; you’re trying your best to download a tiny music file and the data seems to be creeping onto your hard drive at what feels like one kilobyte per minute. And unfortunately, no amount of plugging and unplugging, disabling browser add-ons or slamming-fist-on-router appears to be helping your connection speed.

Annoying as this is, it is possible that your ISP is slowing down your connection speed as part of its traffic management policy. And though it may be of little comfort, several of the largest ISPs in the UK are now signing up to a code of practice, promising to provide a clear and detailed breakdown on how much connection speed is reduced by, how long the reduction will be in place and whether certain services are prioritised, slowed down or blocked entirely.

The code of practice has been drawn up by the Broadband Stakeholder Group, aiming to make more people aware of traffic management policies put in place by ISPs and how this may affect their connection speed.

Anthony Walker, chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group commented:

“There is a core of consumers who understand this stuff quite well, but it’s not something that most people are aware of at this stage,”

He went on to say that most ISPs already do provide information about their traffic management policies and how it affects connection speed but that under the new code of conduct, this information would be provided in the same format across the board.

The new code also covers the possibility of ISPs offering managed services; “offering a guaranteed quality of service for specified content, services or applications.” The idea of managed services is something of a contentious issue, with critics fearing that it will lead to a two-tier internet, with some services paying for faster access to their sites. Aside from the obvious concerns with users not being able to get onto their websites quickly enough, there may also be SEO concerns, with Google having stated that site performance would play a role in the overall ranking of a page.

Jeff Lynch, from the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) commented:

“We recognize that there are certain types of traffic shaping that need to occur in order to maintain the integrity of the network,”

“But we see that as very different from developing business models in which a particular ISP takes money from 4 on Demand [for example] and makes it easier to download 4oD videos than it does BBC videos.”

Where do you stand on this issue? Should companies be able to pay for a better connection speed? Let us know what you think in a comment.

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