O Canada! > Canadian > TekSavvy > Illustrating the network and throttling for non-tech people

reply to emoci

Re: Illustrating the network and throttling for non-tech people

reply to R0CKY
Rocky, does emoci have that right? Do you pay $20/mo/subscriber to Bell for the phone line and an additional amount for the backhaul over Bell's network? Or does that $20 cover everything from modem->BRAS?

Well, $19.50-$20.50, so close enough.

They then pay another $1800 (can't remember the exact fee) per GigE to Bell's network.

Oh, I see, but that's not actually on Bell's voice-data network, it's the link inside 151 Front St W, right?

reply to MikeG

reply to TobiasFunke

not so win

win

reply to TobiasFunke
I think that's better. Especially with the point by point explanation on the right.

reply to MikeG

reply to TobiasFunke
This is the best yet. But for an outside audience this also shows that Bell's portion of the TS network is huge. Remember that many people will at it like an illustrated pie chart - they'll see all those large areas dedicated to Bell, a much smaller area dedicated to TSI, and an area dedicated to Internet that appears smaller than the Bell portion.

On quick glance all these various diagrams make it look like Bell is providing the largest portion of the overall network. By extension, it looks like Bell has the most legitimate cause to be wary of heavy traffic.

While the diagram is accurate, it could be effectively used as pro-Bell propaganda. All Bell needs to do is throw in their own numbers: i.e. "Sympatico serving xx million individuals and xx corporate customers across x provinces. They can easily use this to continue to mislead media & public into believing they are protecting the entire Internet & all the people who use it. It's bullshit, but it is their argument & people are buying into that.

Tobias: I think it creates an issue for non-tech people at point number 2. Do normal people know what a Broadband Remote Access Server is, also most people will assume since it travels over 'Bell private network it might have people thinking that's normal and they should have the ability to throttle. Anyway to fix that?

reply to TobiasFunke
That's good, but you have to make the point that the connection between points 1, 2 and 4 is regulated by the CRTC as common carrier infrastructure. Bell has no legal right to impede competition by disrupting connections between customers and non-Bell service providers.

I'd suggest making two illustrations. Do one of the network prior to wholesale filtering, with the #3 filter installed in the Sympatico portion of the network. Point out that Sympatico chose, as a business decision, to filter its customers' traffic.

For the second illustration, leave the #3 box where it isin your current graph, in the common carrier portion. Point out that Bell imposed Sympatico's filtering model at the common carrier level so no DSL ISP can offer better service than Sympatico chooses to offer.

The anticompetitive aspects are key to this. Making the it clear that Bell is doing things to stifle competition won't endear them to the public regardless of what 'P2P is illegal' smokescreen they cough up.

reply to TobiasFunke

reply to TobiasFunke
Tobias, this is much better!

I'd still try and think more pie-chart in sizing the different portions - I don't know the accurate percentages, but even in this illustration Bell is large in comparison to TSI & the Internet. Obviously you cannot illustrate the physical size of the Internet but there should be some way to show that it is the common carrier for all traffic (Bell, TSI, Rogers, Gov't. etc.) And that companies such as TSI pay for, and manage their own bandwidth usage in this portion of the illustration.

The filtering servers could probably be reduced to little more than a dash - again you want to remove the impression that Bell is providing the largest piece of the entire Internet pie.

Sorry to keep hammering at this point, but I've spent many years working on strategic media plans and I look at this as I would from Bell's POV. Anything that can be used to show how much they provide helps them. What we want to show is the accurate position that, although they are an essential step, they are a fairly small part of the overall TSI network. Most people will look at the final image for only a second or two and that will either change their opinion of the situation or reaffirm their opinion.

reply to TobiasFunke
unless i'm colour blind, on the right of the chart it says it's illustrated as green, but the line on the left is Red.

nvm Teksavvy at bottom is in green, I read it as the single line of red is teksavvy customer, not the bottom portion..