![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 11th, 2011 08:14 amhttp://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/admit-it-data-hogs-you-know-you-should-pay-more.ars
I remember when internet access was based off a cap + additional fees per megabyte - the model that american ISPs want to revert to, and many mobile companies still use (local mobile ISPs have a 30 dollar cap though.
Aside from their desire to maximise profit, without investing in additional infrastructure (considering they are also wanting to bill both sides), there's a few issues i think they miss.Of course this model primarily works since there's a relative lack of competition - they'd be screwed if an ISP offered the same grade and price many non US ISPS offer
Firstly tiered pricing exists in the 'unlimited' model - by bandwith. I pay for a 6 mbps cable connection, not a block of 50 or 100 gb of transfer - if i did, i'd expect a PAYG style payment scheme, not a subscription. In addition, modern usage patterns are built around not keeping
Unlike power or water, it costs the ISP the same if their connectivity is not used on the subscriber side. Infrasctructure costs, sure but in places like the UK, communities have paid for it themselves, and in places like singapore we have had THREE independant sets of infrastructure in place.
Honestly, community ISPs might be one way. Having competition is another. Bandwith based pricing, and talk of 'bandwith hogs' isn't
I remember when internet access was based off a cap + additional fees per megabyte - the model that american ISPs want to revert to, and many mobile companies still use (local mobile ISPs have a 30 dollar cap though.
Aside from their desire to maximise profit, without investing in additional infrastructure (considering they are also wanting to bill both sides), there's a few issues i think they miss.Of course this model primarily works since there's a relative lack of competition - they'd be screwed if an ISP offered the same grade and price many non US ISPS offer
Firstly tiered pricing exists in the 'unlimited' model - by bandwith. I pay for a 6 mbps cable connection, not a block of 50 or 100 gb of transfer - if i did, i'd expect a PAYG style payment scheme, not a subscription. In addition, modern usage patterns are built around not keeping
Unlike power or water, it costs the ISP the same if their connectivity is not used on the subscriber side. Infrasctructure costs, sure but in places like the UK, communities have paid for it themselves, and in places like singapore we have had THREE independant sets of infrastructure in place.
Honestly, community ISPs might be one way. Having competition is another. Bandwith based pricing, and talk of 'bandwith hogs' isn't