A fascinating presentation at the end of the LACNIC day three discussed a national Internet performance measurement initiative grown inside Brazil. The presentation (in Portuguese) below, is by Fabricio Tamusiunas, NIC.br and titled A Comparative Analysis of Automated Measurement Methodologies Based on CPEs and Software, in Brazil.
What NIC Br has done is construct measurement systems that can work directly in the OpenWRT linux based CPE, developed open-source software which can be deployed by others, and even code for browsers to measure real network performance.
By teaming up with a national industry-engineering body interested in the oversight of technology, they have achieved wide acceptance of this measure and a significant deployment nationwide. In an economy of over 200 million people, investment in national broadband, and future high speed cellular networks is massive, and the question around quality of service, interconnect richness, use of domestic peering and access to CDN is critical.
Fabricio follows the emerging IETF drafts in the LMAP working group, which reflect the ‘Sam Knows’ experiences used by the UK OfCOM regulator, as well as the FCC in the USA and more recently proposed for use in Australia, to measure broadband capacity and capability for international ranking. The NIC Br activity will align well with this model, and is a substantial achievement which already has some nodes outside of Brazil in the LACNIC region.
Another conference attendee told me that it’s not uncommon now for a technician doing an onsite installation to deliberately use this measurement system to show the user what their new broadband connection can do, and this suggests an acceptance of the measurement as an independent, accurate and useful tool by both customers and ISPs.
This is a significant development, and NIC Br deserve congratulations for choosing to invest in this activity. Well done!
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