Disclaimer: The
"interim ICTSB response" is a collection of opinions
which does not necessarily represent a consensus view of
the ICTSB
| Generic
Consumer Requirements in ICT standardization extracted from the ANEC report |
Interim ICTSB response |
|---|---|
| 1. Transparency of costs, lengths of contract and contract termination penalties, which need to be made clear at the point of sale. | Not
for standardization. |
| 2. The ISP's legal obligations to the subscriber: These must be transparent (e.g. what is their liability regarding content) and obligations should be made clear to the consumer. Consumers need to be able to tell where the ISP's liability ends and where the web information provider or trader begins. Standards on this issue are deemed necessary because of conflicts or potential conflicts between international laws. | Legal obligations are not subject for standardization. |
| 3. Technical performance criteria: There should be a standard rating system to quantify the ISP's technical performance in terms of their local connection and their Internet peering arrangements. This should rate average data speeds, latency, packet loss, contention ratio. The standard should also include an assessment or rating for the ISP's availability and reliability of connection. This rating system should encompass different methods of connection: broadband, dial-up and mobile, in such a way that different ratings criteria could be applied for these different modes of access. | |
| 4. Quality of service to the user/consumer: The quality of the overall service offered by the ISP should be also rated according to a standard. This would include the quality of the welcome pack, help line and other customer support, staff training and clarify of information regarding performance specifications and services provided. |