Xchange magazine has started a series on why DPI is necessary for operating networks.

In the first article, Karl Wale speaks of the need to integrate DPI in building 3G and LTE wireless data networks.

The story leads with a potential provocation:

Mobile broadband is set to explode, and the bottom line for maintaining service quality is this: DPI will be an integral part of 3G and LTE networks. It delivers tangible benefits to both operators and subscribers – despite negative publicity associated with it.

The author is a product line management director with Continuous Computing, a DPI company, so of course he is bullish on the need for the technology.

Read the article for a review of the technology motivators. As other articles in the series emerge, I’ll provide the links. Part II is supposed to be “DPI: Consumer Friend or Foe.“

One of my non-communications suppliers apparently found a creative way to manage its cash flow: take extra cash from its consumers.

Last month, I received an extraordinary bill from the supplier. They had charged me a the equivalent of two full years in advance on my maintenance plans. When I called to inquire, I was told that credits were being applied – don’t worry, they will show up as a credit on next month’s bill. However, in the meantime, the full amount was deducted from my bank account.

So I was supposed to have a credit balance for $772.44 sitting on my account, that they get to use instead of me. I was told that the company doesn’t issue refund cheques and they don’t pay interest.

Of course, that was before they ran this on me.

The best line was from their outsourced executive support centre telling me that this isn’t really cash out of my pocket, because there is a credit on my account.

No ombudsperson. No Commissioner of Complaints to go to. Telecom consumers have a variety of means to seek recourse; this company doesn’t seem to answer to anyone. I had money grabbed from my account and I was told I had no recourse. Their CFO had found a cheap line of credit – take the money from the consumers.

Instead, I searched the company website until I found a real name and phone number – and told my story to the head of media relations. I started off with a line like “I guess you folks are having some financial problems, eh?” and that seemed to get his attention.

Media relations triggered a call from the real executive offices who agreed that they should be couriering a refund cheque to me.

It shouldn’t have been that hard. Of course, with the cool and rainy summer we are having so far, I may have had more cottage time available for research in customer service methodologies.

In the internet traffic management proceeding, final comments were originally due a week from tomorrow.

The CRTC has just granted an extension until the following Tuesday.

The Commission considers that the opportunity to reply to the written and/or oral submissions of other parties would be beneficial given the important issues raised in this proceeding.

Reply is limited to 10 pages.

That will close the record of the proceeding.

Yesterday, TELUS filed an expert economic study by NERA [pdf, 2.24MB] that concludes that a flawed auction design drove AWS spectrum costs up by an extra $2B.

That is $2 Billion transferred from the telecom industry that won’t be available for enhancing the speeds of broadband connections, accelerating wireless rollouts or serving remote and rural markets.

The study set out to answer two questions:

• Why did the Canadian AWS spectrum sell at a significant premium over U.S. AWS spectrum when prior economic evidence suggests the opposite?
• What are the economic consequences of the record high spectrum prices?

NERA posits that if the auction design was responsible for driving supernormal prices of the spectrum licenses, that this could confound the very policy objectives that Industry Canada sought to achieve.

As evidenced in the UK 3G (third generation) auction and other 3G auctions in the early 2000s, excessively high spectrum prices can negatively affect competition, as investors tend to sell their holdings when earnings decrease and/or debt ratings drop. In severe cases, it can lead to market exit (as evidenced by the fallout of the UK 3G auction) or market consolidation because weaker market participants go bankrupt or are acquired by a more solvent company, all of which has a direct effect on competition.

It also criticizes the definition of “new entrant”, as we had pointed out the day the rules were released.

Hard to say what will be done with this report. Is it more than a $2B “I told you so?”

Will incumbents be looking for relief to assist stimulating investment from other sides of their business?

If NERA is correct, how do we correct the impact of sucking $2B out of the industry that is supposed to be laying the foundation for Canada’s next generation economy?

I have been shopping for a new car for some time now. My kids don’t find my [not quite antique] car to be as amusing as I do. Do you really need an inside mirror? Air conditioning? A left turn signal that shuts itself off? Brakes?

So I have been doing a lot of internet research on various possibilities for a replacement. I get a lot of basic information from the company websites, but I get even more insights from third parties.

Whether it is consumer reporting websites, car magazine websites, or others, you can get all sorts of information about the performance and reliability of different cars. I notice that the manufacturers don’t provide all the details about the kind of paint or electroplating techniques being used – which some people would consider to be important for understanding whether the car will rust prematurely.

Actually, there are all sorts of details about the car that aren’t shown.

I go to the alternate sites because the level of detail that the collective wisdom of the internet provides contributes to my informed purchase decision.

I am saying all of this because of the amount of disclosure that some people are seeking for internet service providers to provide to customers.

There are all sorts of websites that provide continuous reviews of ISPs from around the world. There are quite a number that have sections about each of the Canadian ISPs.

In a competitive market, how much disclosure should the regulator require versus that which is available in the marketplace?