🚀 go-pugleaf

Radu Hambasan (rjh2@crux5.cit.cornell.edu) wrote:
> ...

> The practice, on the part of Internet Access Providers, of charging
> a flat rate for unlimited access is a temporary phenomenon in my 
> opinion. They rely on the low _average_ bandwidth usage of their
> clients to make money. When they start getting burned my a couple
> of people using Iphone all day, they will change their pricing
> structure and charge by the kbps. This is actually a more normal
> situation, as they are directly passing their costs on to their
> clients.

> ...

I respectfully disagree.  I think those new ISP's, which are not
influenced by a monopolistic past, have figured out how futile it is to
waste time and money metering the use of a very cheap and getting cheaper
resource.  In other words, the real cost difference between accounts of
different usage levels is relatively small.  (BTW, it's just as silly to
bill for voice calls as a function of distance.)  These ISP's understand
that they can make money by playing the averages, riding the cost curve
down, and keeping overhead low. 

If you take a hard look at those ISP's that limit usage with a (stiff)
hourly charge thereafter, you'll find that they usually fall into one of
two categories: (1) those rooted in past pricing mechanisms [e.g., PSI and
Advantis]; and/or (2) those trying to protect much higher prices for
"full-time" and/or "business" access [i.e., the nonsense that business 
should pay more]. 

As a final note, there will too few "using Iphone all day" to worry about. 
The Internet faces much bigger challenges from the explosion in graphics
and video. 

--
Best regards,
John  <JNavas@Netcom.com>