Ever been trapped in tailbacks at rush hour? Or had to stand squashed up against someone’s armpit on your morning commute? When too many people do something at the same time, it can cause congestion.

It can be the same on the internet, too. If there’s too much traffic at a particular time or in a particular area – and if not properly managed – these journeys can slow down or disrupt your experience.

The internet is an amazing resource, but capacity is not unlimited. As the owner of the UK’s most established networks, BT Group prizes its ability to manage resources to deliver the best customer experience. To do this, it helps to ensure the right traffic is moving on the right routes at the right time.

But that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Simultaneous live sport streams, a huge new update for an online multiplayer game, a major console software update and the dropping of a popular new series on a streaming channel can all happen at the same time. And we’ll see even bigger volumes of data hit the web in the future. The idea of a Metaverse is growing while traditional broadcast TV is increasingly turning to the internet for delivery.

Huge traffic peaks can impact customers, ranging from the inconvenient, such as a buffering football match or a slow download, to the consequential. A glitchy video interview could cost someone a shot at their dream job. The loss of a connection disrupts remote learning.

To resolve this, new models are required to maintain the levels of quality and experience that all customers should expect.

So what’s getting in the way?

Part of the answer lies in a complex set of regulations called ‘net neutrality’. The principles behind them, to guarantee an open internet for all customers and treat all information on the internet the same, were first set out 20 years ago.

Over the past two decades, what we can do online and how we all use the internet has changed dramatically. Just ‘Ask Jeeves’…

BT continues to invest to grow capacity and expand our networks. But we know that, at peak times,  just a handful of companies can be responsible for a huge proportion of the traffic they carry. If I look across any other industry I can name, the more a resource is used, the bigger a contribution is made. Heavier vehicles are legally obliged to contribute more to road maintenance. Bigger parcels cost more to post.

But under net neutrality rules, all traffic must be treated equally. That means a business can send any volume of traffic, at any time of day, in almost any way they want, and quote ‘net neutrality’ to deny any obligation to do different.

We do not believe that the rules were installed to protect the largest companies, and it certainly shouldn’t be the job of a network or customers to foot the bill for inefficient practices.

That’s why BT Group is one of a growing number of companies across the world calling for stronger rights to demand efficient use of the modern web.

And that’s why Ofcom have launched a consultation into these rules today.

What needs to change?

We believe every online journey should be possible. Whatever the destination. And at any time of any day. We’ll be putting detailed evidence into Ofcom’s consultation, but there are some simple principles that need to be tackled to achieve that.

1. Content should be delivered efficiently
   
   Companies don’t despatch a single lorry for every unique online order – they group deliveries into a single vehicle because it’s logical, efficient and economical to do so. BT is in the business of delivering digital, not physical, parcels but we believe the same principles should apply. We have solutions that can help the largest businesses to be more efficient online and we should be supported to be able to use them.
    
2. Not all content is time sensitive
   
   We wouldn’t expect a 25-lane motorway to be built to Land’s End to cope with Bank Holiday traffic for only eight days a year. Yet that’s the equivalent of what we have to do digitally under current rules. By prioritising content according to when it’s needed, we won’t waste investment to create excess capacity that’s not needed most of the year and can ensure the customer gets a better experience.
    
3. UK businesses should be able to benefit from innovation
   
   Networks can be configured for specific customer needs but it remains unclear which services are allowed under net neutrality rules. An obvious example is zero-rating – removing costs to access certain content – because under net neutrality rules one website shouldn’t be prioritised over another. Yet during the pandemic, this was how we enabled free access to education resources. In the future, there will be many new opportunities to provide bespoke support for customers, but we don’t want network innovations stifled because there’s no certainty they can be brought to market.

What are we doing about it?

Our investment continues to keep up with traffic growth so people can continue to rely on our networks. But, challenges are emerging, and with significant quantity and quality of content moving online in the future, capacity requirements are still needed. Without change, our investment will increasingly get sucked up into meeting the capacity needs of the largest players, leaving less for other priorities, such as expanding infrastructure to digitally enfranchise more people.

By evolving net neutrality laws, we’re not looking to throw out protections. Far from it. We’re asking for a level playing field to negotiate improved efficiency, better content co-ordination and the ability to ensure the heaviest of traffic loaders don’t impact everyone else’s online experience.

It is not sustainable, resource efficient or economically viable to do otherwise.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @marcallera

It was great to be back in person at the Enders Media and Telecoms 2022 & Beyond conference last week.

I talked about how this must be the most volatile but fascinating time I’ve seen in my 21 years in the telco industry. It's a really challenging time for anyone running a consumer business, with consumer behaviour changing faster than ever and significant numbers of people in really challenging situations right now. We know we have a responsibility to help every customer.

While costs are going up hugely on pretty much everything in every business everywhere, I believe our industry offers outstanding value relative to other sectors, consumers are getting and using loads more data on faster more reliable Fibre and 5G networks whilst telco is one of the lowest basket spends in the household and we have the lowest prices and highest competitive intensity of any country in Europe.

Our world revolves around networks and connectivity – we are at the crossroads between hardware, services, media and content. It’s a fast-changing world for our customers: the way they work, the way they watch their favourite films and TV shows, the way they keep in touch with the people they love. 

Changes in technology and market structures are happening right now, and happening at pace. The expectations of what our networks can deliver is rising all the time. Across the industry, the UK's networks have stood up to a surge of pressure from customers for whom connectivity was a lifeline during the pandemic. 

We were able to manage the demand on our network partly because we saw a lot of the data growth happen during the day thanks to remote working and home learning. But the traffic peaks – the times when our network is tested by streaming at the same time as major downloads for things like new game patches – have continued to grow.

Reaching new peaks

In December streaming of Premier League football drove another massive peak of internet traffic on our broadband network – a new high peak of 25.5Tbps. That’s about 12% higher than the previous peak we saw around the same time the year before. 

These peaks will continue to grow in frequency and size. And this requires a very different network to the ones designed today. 

This isn’t a complaint about content. We love our partnerships and services that drive a need for better connectivity - I’m not here to complain! 

But I do believe we need to change some things. It shouldn’t be assumed that networks will just ‘cope’ with these increasing peaks driven by the distribution shift in TV streaming and gaming. 

I just can’t see how this is sustainable. 

We’re having to think very hard about how we are going to be able to deliver the necessary step-change in investment that will soon be needed to handle Web 3.0, the Metaverse, explosions in online gaming, TV’s shift to all IP and other services we haven’t seen yet 

Because make no mistake, traffic growth will explode as traditional broadcast migrates across to IP. 

IP networks can step up and be the replacement – and we will. But to do so, we need to shift from ‘best efforts’ delivery – with content providers fighting it out at busy times – to guaranteed service levels, even greater reach than we see today, and with improved resilience. 

It’s not ‘a bit more of the same’. It’s a whole different ball game. And our current, one-sided economic models are not designed to manage this. So, we need some real debates about how we can drive network investment and innovation for UK consumers, and support government in delivering key policy goals. 

Closing the digital divide, future of TV and transformation of public services all depend on a bigger, more resilient digital infrastructure. 

Three questions I’ve already asked: how could we work more closely with companies whose platforms drive the increasing costs on networks? And how can we work together on more efficient delivery of content to consumers? And how can they play a bigger role in achieving the investment needed to drive these big policy goals? 

It’s not just me that’s asking. 

There are also a number of global voices calling for a change. The internet has evolved beyond all recognition since the principals of net neutrality were set and I don’t think it has all evolved as people thought it would! So those arguing nothing needs to change or evolve don’t have a strong argument in my view. 

Many more stakeholders now recognise the growing power of digital platforms; voices that realise connectivity is a shared endeavour. And voices that want to protect the fundamental rules of parity on networks. 

I believe if we want to close the digital divide, we have to look beyond that debate being framed solely around whether somebody can get online or not. 

We also have to think about the quality of their experience once they are online. Digital equity. 

We need to ensure policy makers are awake to this challenge, because the world will continue to move on at pace. We must all have the courage to evolve and change for the better, to deliver a better service for our customers. 

If we do this right, then we all have a braver, brighter future ahead – wherever you stand at the crossroads of networks, services, platforms and devices.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @marcallera

Photo credit: Philipp Katzenberger, Unsplash