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Large-Scale "Internet Rationing" Possible, Experts Warn
wnd.com ^ | 3/27/2020 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 03/30/2020 6:50:52 AM PDT by rktman

Netflix app downloads have exploded across Europe over the last several weeks as "Netflix and chill" "Netflix and quarantine" has been all the rage during countrywide lockdowns in Italy, France, Spain, and the UK.

We noted last Thursday that Netflix had to reduce traffic to its European networks by 25% for 30 days to preserve internet functionality as streaming traffic surged among tens of millions of people in quarantine.

Days after Netflix pledged to reduce streaming traffic, experts are saying that European countries could start rolling out large-scale "internet rationing" to prioritize critical apps and websites.

"If we end up in a situation where worldwide, 850m children start to receive lessons virtually for an extended period of time, then networks might want to start prioritizing video traffic over gaming traffic," said Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly, who spoke with The Telegraph.

British internet provider BT Group said their communication network could handle the extreme levels of data of millions surfing the internet while in quarantine. But they warned that video streaming services could start bogging down the system and leave critical networks, reserved for emergency services, exposed to slow speeds.

Besides Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube are other streaming services limiting ultra-high definition videos to European users to preserve the functionality of the internet.

The French and UK governments have reportedly asked Disney to suspend the launch of its new streaming service in both countries on March 24.

(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: webout
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To: Mr. Jeeves

Temporarily denying everyone access to the Online Nicholas Cage Film Festival doesn’t seem to be a horrible loss to me...


21 posted on 03/30/2020 7:15:32 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: DesertRhino

How would this differ from in-person lessons?

The tech is not the problem. (Also, the problem in the article above is related to transatlantic and inter-country interconnects. Usually their local networks are reasonably okay.)


22 posted on 03/30/2020 7:16:46 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: rktman

It’s obvious to me that ISP’s do not know how to calculate the BW needs of their customers (besides price-gouging for gigs and teras)...


23 posted on 03/30/2020 7:17:32 AM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: LeonardFMason

“5G is really nothing more than a promise at this point no matter what the commercials say.”

Doesn’t 5G deal with the communication close to individual wireless end points (more, closer spaced antennas)?

If so then it has nothing to do with the switching of data that travels long distances over fiber.

Bandwidth hogs are the video streams whose main use is to provide us entertainment. Those streams are switched through the network core. 5G won’t reduce that hogging.


24 posted on 03/30/2020 7:18:10 AM PDT by cymbeline
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To: cymbeline
“5G is really nothing more than a promise at this point no matter what the commercials say.” Doesn’t 5G deal with the communication close to individual wireless end points (more, closer spaced antennas)?

I've read 4G antennas can be spaced 1-2 miles and 5G needs to be closer to 500 yards.

25 posted on 03/30/2020 7:19:47 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: rktman

Amazing what we build and then give up....the Panama Canal, the internet....who knows what else.


26 posted on 03/30/2020 7:21:08 AM PDT by ealgeone
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To: rktman

“Possible”. Right up their with “could” or “might” as performatives to push another hypothetical fear article.


27 posted on 03/30/2020 7:22:54 AM PDT by Flick Lives (A liberal is someone who worries that somewhere, someone is enjoying life.)
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To: rktman

I’ve noticed our Internet/WiFi is struggling occasionally.


28 posted on 03/30/2020 7:24:04 AM PDT by moovova (It's not the Wuhu Flu...it's pollen season.)
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To: Spktyr

...this is specifically *Europeans* crashing the *European* segments of the internet. The US segment of internet isn’t actually having too many problems with this.


How’s that net neutrality working out EU?


29 posted on 03/30/2020 7:24:18 AM PDT by Flick Lives (A liberal is someone who worries that somewhere, someone is enjoying life.)
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To: Flick Lives
You mean monkeys could not fly out of my butt?
30 posted on 03/30/2020 7:24:43 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: ealgeone
Virginity......😂
31 posted on 03/30/2020 7:25:06 AM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: dfwgator
Well they 'might'.🐒
32 posted on 03/30/2020 7:26:30 AM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: mikelets456

“...walking miles per day.”

Tons of people walking, running, biking around here. All doing the Six-Foot Social Distancing Coronavirus Shuffle as we meet on the sidewalk/street.


33 posted on 03/30/2020 7:27:24 AM PDT by moovova (It's not the Wuhu Flu...it's pollen season.)
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To: glorgau

Straight subscription - i.e. no over-subscription is EXPENSIVE. Most users will not pay for dedicated bandwidth due to the cost. Thus ISPs have adopted an over-subscription model. This allows them to keep the per user cost down.

Allow me to illustrate

Assume a 10 Mbit line costs 1,000 dollars to install. If I allow 10 users to share that line under straight subscription, each person only gets 1 Mbit and has to pay $100. If I oversubscribe by a 10:1 factor, I can allow each connection 100K with a burst of up to 1 Mbit (perhaps even higher) .... if the bandwidth is available. Here is where free markets kick in. I can also drop my price point. Some ISPs will drop the price point by the same over-subscription factor so the $100 drops down to $10 but is time 100 users.

Granted this is a gross oversimplification.

Also, internet traffic is very bursty and is not a steady stream for most applications. For example, lets use your web browser. You put in the URL, the browser goes out and grabs the content and WAITS while you decide what to do. Steaming videos use a different model.

The congestion is coming from a change in the way consumers are using the Internet. As more consumers use streaming services, the ability to burst becomes less relevant and less usable.

This is exactly why I got off of the shared cable solution and paid for a bonded ADSl solution for my last mile. At least my first point of congestion is now at the central office and not in my neighborhood.


34 posted on 03/30/2020 7:34:04 AM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: 1Old Pro
I've read 4G antennas can be spaced 1-2 miles and 5G needs to be closer to 500 yards. and they have to be fiber fed. There are no networks in America even close to 5G capable.
35 posted on 03/30/2020 7:35:17 AM PDT by SanchoP (Living your life in fear is merely existing. You might as well be dead already.)
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To: BuffaloJack

this sounds like Communist Globalist ... Greenies BS. we are going to have to ward it off these days.


36 posted on 03/30/2020 7:35:59 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS!!)
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To: glorgau

Similar to Governors and healthcare capacity.


37 posted on 03/30/2020 7:36:46 AM PDT by John W (Trump/Pence 2020)
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To: taxcontrol

> Allow me to illustrate... blah, blah, blah, and here is how I did it better than anybody else

Sure, I know a bit of queuing theory and probability models, etc. but was trying for a little shorthand. i.e ISPs are greedy and will charge out the wazoo when given the chance.


38 posted on 03/30/2020 7:44:21 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: rktman

“Perhaps rationing of resources would fall under their purview now?”

No, they don’t have anything to do with that, they just manage domain names.


39 posted on 03/30/2020 7:48:03 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

Well, I left myself an out be saying ‘perhaps’. :-)


40 posted on 03/30/2020 7:51:05 AM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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