The British have given the world so much. The Queen’s English, the two house system of government, afternoon tea…these are some of what has been given to the world by the land that inspired the phrase, ‘The sun never sets on the British Empire’. Many small things have been given by the country that we, as Americans, broke away from, and then, as wayward children, found a way to become friendly again.

Perhaps there is another thing that Britain is trying to give itself, that we can let it give us as well. Lately there has been a campaign in that region, to change the way the Internet Service Providers rate service. Rather than expressing levels of service at the theoretical limit of speed, such as 768 kb/s,  the move is being made to make the stated speeds those of more typical service, like 384 to 512 kb/s.

This would result in more people who become happy customers, and fewer who are disenchanted with their service. It also means fewer calls to support, which as these providers should know, drains the profit from the effort.

I have been reading about this in an Australian magazine, as the Aussies are beginning to see the light of this as well. Simple fairness should win out everywhere. Who doesn’t respond well to honesty? A person might not like the news, or in this case, the data rates, but they will accept it, and be less upset, knowing the truth has been told.

Obviously, an average is hard to obtain with data rates on the ‘net, but certainly a weighted average would go a long way toward customer satisfaction. It might also be a way for the ISPs to move a larger percentage of people to higher rate plans, as honest values would show those who feel in need of a certain throughput would move to a plan that would give that rate a greater part of the time spent online.

Here in the United States, much debate has been done over what ‘broadband access’ is. This is due in fact to the great disparity in the rate structure used by some ISPs, along with the problem above, theoretical performance. Someone who signs up for 256k performance, should really be told what the actual rates to be expected are, and also that for the usage many want, this rate will not cut the mustard. This is not a rate that is going to allow streaming of video content smoothly, as the rate is likely to be nearer 128k, not just as the median, but as the mode.

All who have broadband access should contact their ISP, gently making them aware of this movement, and urging a new frankness in the talk about internet access speeds. Each party in the discussion would come out happier.

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[tags] internet service provider, ISP, theoretical speed, actual speed, speed bracketing, United Kingdom, Australia, median, mode [/tags]