Liaison statement
LS - Reply to ITU-T SG11 relevant activities on “Internet Speed Measurements” (reply to SG11-LS91)

Study Group 12 thanks you for your cooperation and process to improve the
development of Recommendations closely related to our mandate, as lead Study
Group on Quality of Service and Quality of Experience. Study Group 12,
especially Question 17 among many others, maintains a long history of
developing Recommendations that have served the needs of knowledgeable
Regulators, many of whom have joined us to ensure this productive work
continues. Study Group 12 also maintains a healthy relationship with the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), fostered through overlapping
participation and frequent communications beginning in 1998, and partners with
key IETF Working Groups such as the IP Performance Metrics (IPPM) WG. We
encourage you to include the IETF in this development process and liaison
exchange.

In the brief interval allowed for us to prepare a liaison response, we list the
following issues with your proposed text under development in Q15/11:

•       No attempt to take advantage of relevant SG12 Recommendations when
attempting to specify a framework or methods of measurement for the performance
of IP-based networks. For example, the requirements in section 6.12 of Rec
Y.1540 are not met. •       No attempt to take advantage of relevant IETF RFCs
when attempting to specify a framework or methods of measurement for the
performance of the Internet (where such RFCs are considered primary standards
in-force).

It is important to recognize that descriptions of popular measurement studies
do not constitute a basis for an international standard, as they do not possess
the necessary specificity to guarantee equivalent results from multiple
independent implementations, or necessarily use performance parameters that
exhibit important attributes such as repeatability.

We urge you to begin study of the relevant Recommendations, IETF RFCs, and
other work-in-progress, and to suspend plans to seek approval for all related
activities in SG 11. We invite you to join SG12 at our meeting in January 2016,
where we will be able to share additional background on IP-based network
performance parameters and methods of measurement. We are unable to send a
representative to the SG 11 plenary, it is the end of year when travel is
constrained for many, and we apologize for our absence.

Attachment: LS From SG 11 (SG11-LS91, for information to TSAG and IETF)