Studying Forwarding Differences in European Mobile Broadband with a Net Neutrality Perspective

Abstract:
Availability of deep packet inspection methods and systems allows network operators to classify traffic on the base of the application type. Once classified, traffic may be subject to artificial bandwidth limitations (e.g. in case of resourcedemanding applications) or to class-dependent forwarding policies (e.g. to divert the traffic generated by specific applications on low-priority links). In this paper we describe a method that can be useful to detect the presence of class-dependent forwarding policies. The method is based on traceroute-like mechanisms embedded within the normal communication flow of an application. The method is contextualized in a study about the neutrality of mobile network operators, to understand if a correlation can be found between the presence of class-dependent forwarding strategies and limitations of bandwidth.