Wireless Efficiency versus Net Neutrality

I. INTRODUCTION II. CONGESTION IN THE INTERNET A. Controlling Internet Congestion 1. Internet Congestion Control on the Honor System 2. More Recent System Collapses 3. Use of Established Congestion-Avoidance Technologies 4. Security B. Impacts of Eliminating ISPs' Congestion Control Tools III. WIRELESS NETWORKS AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY A. Priority Routing Expands Capacity B. Priority in the Backhaul Network 1. Separation of Control Signaling and User Information 2. Converged Networks 3. Network Neutrality and Backhaul Networks C. Cross-Layer Design D. Efficiency E. Handset Attributes and System Capacity 1. Receiver Sensitivity 2. Vocoder Performance 3. Other Handset Attributes That Affect System Capacity 4. Handset Attributes and Service Quality 5. Poor Handsets or Poor Networks? 6. Network Standards Evolution IV. SCHEDULING AND PRIORITY ROUTING IN SATELLITES, ELECTRICITY, AND WIRELESS V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION Almost all systems in the world have limited capacity. Nature makes the capacity of systems variable, despite the best efforts of their designers and operators; they are best modeled as a random quantity. Consider the capacity of the airways between Washington, D.C., and New York. Although there is an upper limit set by the capacity of the airports at each end, weather often reduces capacity well below that upper limit. The supply of electricity also fluctuates. Generators and transmission lines fail; fiver flows and winds vary. The capacity of some geostationary communications satellites comes in physical units called transponders, which can fail unexpectedly. The electrical power industry and the satellite industry have developed a variety of priority mechanisms to deal with such fluctuations. Wireless networks and the Internet face similar limits. Equipment failures and fluctuating demand can result in situations in which users try to transmit more traffic than the network can carry. As described, one response to such overload in electricity and satellite communications is to give preferential treatment to one type of use or class of customers in order to match demand with capacity. There are currently a variety of policy proposals for wireless and Internet communications, referred to under the broad term network neutrality, that propose to prohibit or limit such preferential treatment when traffic overloads occur. This Article reviews congestion and interconnection issues in the Internet and wireless networks, and points out a number of ways in which such limits on preferential treatment could harm consumers. This Article first reviews congestion and congestion control in the Internet; second, the Article turns to wireless networks and shows that in addition to congestion issues, priority routing in wireless can make available capacity that would otherwise go unused. Policies that facilitate the wider availability and adoption of broadband access to the Internet promote a wide variety of public interest objectives, including jobs, safety of life, and quality of life. Conversely, restrictive regulations tie the hands of network engineers and managers, and prevent continued innovation that would make broadband networks less robust, less useful, and less secure. In addition, such regulations deny consumers certain services that may be effectively precluded in the absence of particular forms of network management. The successful operation of a broadband network requires considerable attention by network operators to many significant background details, such as protecting against security threats, controlling congestion, and making sure that delay-sensitive applications like VoIP and interactive games perform well. Allowing providers the flexibility to employ the tools and practices that most effectively address these concerns benefits all broadband consumers. …