Leading broadband and high-tech companies, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Google, AT&T and Verizon, are banding together to form the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group.
Former Federal Communications Commission chief technologist Dale Hatfield, who is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, will lead the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG, or TAG).
The group’s mission is to bring together engineers and other similar technical experts to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience, including the impact to and from applications, content and devices that use the Internet.
“The TAG will function as a neutral expert technical forum and promote a greater consensus around technical practices within the Internet community,” said Hatfield. “The TAG would consider a number of factors in looking at technical practices, including whether a practice is used by others in the industry; whether alternative technical approaches are available; the impact of a technical practice on other entities; and whether a technical practice is aimed at specific content, applications or companies.”
The group will report on its findings to the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.
Other initial participants include Cisco Systems, Dish Network, EchoStar, Intel, Level 3 Communications and Microsoft.
