For this purpose we use the term contention ratio. A contention ratio is simply the size of an Internet trunk divided by the number of users. We normally think of Internet trunks in units of megabits. For example, 10 users sharing a one megabit trunk would have a 10-to- 1 contention ratio. If sharing the bandwidth on the trunk equally and simultaneously, each user could sustain a constant feed of 100kbs, which is exactly 1/10 of the overall bandwidth.

So what is an acceptable contention ratio?

From a business standpoint, it is whatever a customer will put up with and pay for without canceling their service. This definition may seem ethically suspect, but whether in the bygone days of telecommunications phone service or contemporary Internet bandwidth business, there are long-standing precedents for overselling. What do you think a circuit busy signal is caused by? Or a dropped cell phone call? It's best to leave the moral debate to a university assignment or a Sunday sermon.

So, without pulling any punches, what exactly will a customer tolerate before pulling the plug?

Here are some basic observations:

• Rural customers in the US and Canada: Contention ratios of 50 to 1 are common
• International customers in remote areas of the world: Contention ratios of 80 to 1 are common
• Internet providers in urban areas: Contention ratios of 20 to 1 are to be expected

The numbers above are a good, rough starting point, but things are not as simple as they look. There is a statistical twist as bandwidth amounts get higher.

Contention ratios can actually increase as the overall Internet trunk size gets larger. For example, if 50 people can share one megabit without mutiny, it should follow that 100 people can share two megabits without mutiny as the ratio has not changed. It is still 50 to 1.

However, from observations of hundreds of ISPs, we can easily conclude that perhaps 110 people can share two megabits with the same tolerance as 50 people sharing one megabit. What this means is that the larger the ISP, the more bandwidth at a fixed cost per megabit, and thus the larger the contention ratios you can get away with.

Is this really true? And if so, what are its implications for your business?

This is simply an empirical observation, backed up by talking to literally thousands of ISPs over the course of four years and noticing how their oversubscription ratios increase with the size of their trunk.

A conservative estimate is that, starting with the baseline ratio listed above, you can safely add 10 percent more subscribers above and beyond the original contention ratio for each megabit of trunk they share.

Thus, to provide an illustration, 50 people sharing one megabit can safely be increased to 110 people sharing two megabits, and at four megabits you can easily handle 280 customers. With this understanding, getting more from your bandwidth becomes that much easier.

For more details about the AirEqualizer, contact us via e-mail at admin@apconnections.net or give us a call at 303-997-1300, extension 102.

We will be presenting at the FISPA regional meeting March 13th in Orlando, so if you're in the area, be sure to stop by and say hello.

To meet the needs of NetEqualizer and AirEqualizer users worldwide, we offer extended e-mail support 16 hours a day, including weekends, in order to overlap with every time zone.

Here's a subset of the countries in which the NetEqualizer is currently being used: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, China, Columbia, Cyprus, England, Finland, France, Ghana, Greece, Holland, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad, United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Yemen