By: MarkJ - 19 November, 2007 (1:26 PM)
Network monitoring experts at
Epitiro have called on
Ofcom to follow "
New Zealand’s lead" and monitor the networks of UK ISP's:
Gavin Johns, Managing Director of Epitiro said, "Broadband performance is not just about speed and it’s great to see that The Commerce Commission [New Zealand’s ofcom equivalent] recognises this. Although consumers and uninformed commentators often consider download speed to be the most important attribute of broadband, it’s just one indicator of performance, as Internet experts know. There are a variety of performance indicators that deliver for different types of users. Consumers want a fast Internet service, but it must also be reliable and resilient. Connection reliability and low levels of downtime are very important. There’s no point having a fast connection if it is not available when you want to use it."
Unsurprisingly Epitiro does have its own vested interests here as they were the ones selected by New Zealand’s regulator to monitor ISP's. Sadly Epitiro only appears to monitor the largest providers in the market, which ignores the often better performance of smaller ISP’s.
On the other hand, monitoring the larger players is better than not monitoring them at all, though direct network performance is only one part of the overall equation.
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