Whether it’s the nutritional value of food, the fuel economy of a new car - or the real performance of your broadband connection - good, standardised data and transparency is the key to understanding this important information. Our executive chairman Eric Schmidt outlined our views on the importance of measurement in a speech this week in Brussels. Measurement Lab (M-Lab), we presented important data on Internet network speed to a committee at the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation in Paris. M-Lab is a collaborative effort led by researchers in partnership with companies and other institutions, as part of a drive to help ISPs, regulators and consumers improve Internet services across the continent. Some regulators such as the UK’s Ofcom are also running their own comparable measurement projects .SamKnows , an M-Lab partner, is running a project for the European Commission designed to map network performance in all EU Member States. In Greece, the country’s telecom regulator, the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission, has launched a new consumer-focused broadband measurement portal , using M-Lab’s Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) and data. Greek consumers now have real-time, useful information about their broadband performance. The portal uses M-Lab’s NDT to detail average speed, latency, packet loss, and other performance metrics for different areas of Greece. Interactive features allow consumers to compare the results from their tests with averages. Glasnost test to determine the occurrence of application-specific traffic blocking. We encourage other governments and consumer advocates to take a look at M-Lab, and to consider the possibility of using this open-source code. Everyone - ISPs, regulators and consumers - will benefit from solid data about Internet network speeds.Posted by Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager, Google Research
Why would the OECD pick Google, which has political agendas and strong vested interests, to measure broadband speeds? Shouldn't it pick an entity which is not a corporation under investigation for violations of antitrust and privacy laws?
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