broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

Figure 2.7 Avera ge Download Speed and Ping Time in Bahrain, January–March 2011a. Average download speed (Mbit/s) b. Ping time (milliseconds)2.52452.0240Mbit/s1.51.0milliseconds2352302250.50.000.0002.0004.0006.0008.0010.0012.00time of day14.0016.0018.0020.0022.00industry average22021500.0002.0004.0006.0008.0010.00advertised speedmilliseconds12.0014.0016.0018.0020.0022.00Source: Bahrain, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority 2011.Note: Ping time measures latency by taking the average time for the data to make the round trip to servers located in Bahrain,Europe, and the United States.user and the server are on different systems, but within the national territory),and the international domain (the user and server are in differentcountries), measuring performance in each domain yields diagnosticinformation useful for regulators, operators, and consumers. For example,the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore establishesdifferent latency parameters depending on whether Internet trafficis national or international (IDA 2011).PricingA government that launches a broadband initiative using public resourceswill want the service to be affordable to the intended beneficiaries. Onecould argue that prices need not be monitored in the case of purely privatesupply, where no public resources have been expended. However, whenbroadband is seen as an essential public utility or where prices are high dueto market failure, governments may want to monitor pricing. Concernsabout this issue have prompted countries such as India and the UnitedStates to include “affordable” broadband access as a key factor or goal intheir broadband initiatives (United States, FCC n.d., 10; TRAI 2010).Policy Approaches to Promoting Broadband Development 81