I saw over the weekend blog posts suggesting that Google is planning to release some “tools” to help consumers assess the condition of their broadband connections.   It is not clear to me what those tools will do but I think at bottom what is key here is the notion of “transparency”, providing consumers with useful and understandable information that can help them have the best Internet experience possible. Consumers are driving the market with respect to the Internet at all levels whether it is applications, software, content or broadband connections. It is generally a good thing that they have more information about what is going on with all of the services they access whether it be content, search engines or broadband connections and this applies to other aspects of the Internet’s operations as well, particularly things like privacy. 

 

The idea of providing consumers with more information and better tools to assess their Internet connections and the applications and services they use is very consistent with what I think is a bedrock strength of the  Internet.   The Internet is based on a cooperative/competitive model that works best when companies and individuals all provide support, ideas and feedback.   I made this point in a previous blog posting and a number of commentators, such as Jonathan Zittrain, have made the same point to one degree or another (I don’t agree with Jonathan on everything in his new book but he does suggest that consumers with good information tools can be an important means of helping protect the innovation and creativity that have made the Internet an important platform for growth).   

 

Having “tools” available for consumers to better assess how their broadband connection is working is a good thing.   Good feedback can help broadband providers understand better what is happening on their networks.  I believe that given the architecture of our DSL broadband network and our investments in the fiber to the home FiOS Internet service, Verizon will generally show up quite well when it comes to tools measuring things like throughput and upload speeds.

 

But transparency is a useful concept beyond broadband connections.   Consumers should also have more of an understanding, more information regarding how the services they use or access over their broadband connections vary in terms of the demands they put on home computers and on broadband performance.  Some applications may affect other applications a consumer is using, for example, or they may affect the neighbors connected to and sharing the same local broadband “node”.   Consumers should have more information on all of these matters too. 

 

I think this is a case where a well informed consumer is good for the Internet.  But being well informed should not apply just to the broadband connection a consumer is using.  They should have access to  good information not just about how their broadband connection works but about how other aspects of their Internet services work too, including applications, content and search.  In thinking about “tools”, we should not forget that the Internet, especially from the consumers’ perspective, includes everything from the connection, to the computer, to the web services and applications consumers want to use.