S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL
 ·Comcast
2 edits | Liars
If Att wanted to give "grandma" her fair shake, then they'd lower the prices for the measly 50MB of usage that "grandma" uses per month.
This is about setting the precedent of a low cap before even more Video is introduced to the Web. This is a money grab, plain and simple!
I think it's high time congress dragged these clowns to the hill and interogated them on where all of the money for upgrades through tax incentives has gone. They did it to AIG, and GM, they should now do it to TW, and the Death Star. Remember the 40 mbps to the home in 10 from the Clinton years.
If they don't like the idea of a PUC regulating them then hit them with this. They redefine a cap as cost since it has obvious pricing implications, with the regulating body being split with the FCC and IRS. Wouldn't that be a fun audit!
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BF69~~~Please stop suffocating gerbils! |
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digitalfreak
join:2005-12-09
49533 | We need caps to avoid the Internet Apocalypse! The sky is falling, the sky is falling! |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
1 edit | Has to be all or nothing
This "ISPs with more than 2 million subscribers" won't fly. It has to apply to ALL ISPs otherwise the big guys will cry about unfair competition.
Otherwise just keep the status quo. |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO
 ·VOIPo
| reply to S_engineer
Re: Liars
Yeah, lets take tw's or att's $40(or closest in price) package. If right now I were to pay $40 for no cap and so was 'grandma' and they put a 40GB cap and STILL kept it at $40 how does that make grandma pay less if she only uses 500MB? If that was what they really wanted they would make a real metered billing aka PAYG plan. For like 20/5 for $10 and if 1GB cost them $0.10 we would pay $0.20. I support this bill because it stops us from getting price gouged and skrewed. As far as I know it does not stop metered billing just makes them not be able to gouge us, and that is good. If it does make metering illegal then that part needs to go the Gov should not be able to say that, they should be able to say they cannot gouge/skrew us. And they can and I think they should. |
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baineschile
2600
Premium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI
·Comcast
·magicjack.com
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
| reply to Eat Me
Cap or Per Byte
They have to decide if there is going to be a cap with overagres, or just a speed/consumption model.
Either way, these companies that want to meter have more money than any of us, so its probably a lost cause if they have a one track mind.
Either way, I hope everything stays reasonable (250gig comcast cap, i personally think is more than enough), and they evalutate it annually. |
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Omega
Displaced Ohioan
Premium
join:2002-07-30
Cheyenne, WY
clubs:  | I agree, although I don't like caps, I can tolerate reasonable ones. 250GB/month is reasonable, imo. at least for now. Once HD content becomes more available, they will need to increase the cap.
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Whats smells like blue? |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO
·VOIPo
| Competition would stop this.
Look at FiOS and cable vision areas. They have good competition CV even added a 101/15 package to keep people from going to FiOS and FiOS is getting new packages out 10/2 to 15/5 and 20/5 to 25/15. But 3 or more ISPs per area would be best IMHO.
"If government is going to get involved, they're better served by taking actions that foster competition. As we've seen with Cablevision and Verizon's reluctance to impose caps or meters, and Time Warner's reluctance to trial meters in FiOS markets, competition is kind of like DEET for dumb, self-serving telecom ideas. The threat of customer defection will keep carriers on their best behavior." |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO | reply to Omega
Re: Cap or Per Byte
"Once HD content becomes more available, they will need to increase the cap." They won't. That is one of the reason they stared capping. Competition is what we need. |
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tdouglas22
join:2001-09-25
Memphis, TN | So what do WE need to do to make our voices heard again?
We can't just sit by and let this go through. We have to do something to get it across that this is NOT good for the customers and does nothing to help us. Ideas, anybody? I'm all eyes and ears. |
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Broken Back
Premium
join:2002-05-19
Dallas, TX | Uverse
Your TV Service with ATT just got out of hand with metered billing.
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Over The Hill |
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sbrook
Premium,Mod
join:2001-12-14
H0H 0H0
·Rogers Hi-Speed
Host:
Rogers
Bell Canada
| reply to me1212
Re: Competition would stop this.
Competition isn't the answer these days. The modern idea of competition is "If they can get away with it, then so can we". Now granted, the competitor may not push the price per byte quite so high, but they'll come close, or offer some other scheme to temporarily discount the bill.
The competitive market is no longer what we knew it to be or expect it to be. Today it's all about making money for shareholders. It really started collapsing in the telecoms industry with the arrival of the 3rd party long distance companies in the US (like Sprint and MCI and Williams Telecom). They tried to be competitive, but weren't competitive enough that people were flocking to leave Ma Bell/AT&T. So, they went to the wall.
Now with the changing face of personal communication with VoIP, Digital Phone and Cell phones, the cost to be competitive in the traditional sense is too high for nervous investors after the hitech bubble burst in the early part of the decade.
Now it's all about making money for the shareholders, and the way you do that is to charge what the market will bear, even if it's ridiculous.
There's far more fundamental things at work here than competition in the marketplace. So, laws and regulation to fix it won't work until we have a far more stable economy and people are happy to see their dividend cheques come in, instead of relying on the increasing value of equities. |
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k1ll3rdr4g0n
join:2005-03-19
Homer Glen, IL
| reply to tdouglas22
Re: So what do WE need to do to make our voices heard again?
said by tdouglas22  :We can't just sit by and let this go through. We have to do something to get it across that this is NOT good for the customers and does nothing to help us. Ideas, anybody? I'm all eyes and ears. Start protesting at COs and office buildings of the ISPs. Make sure cars passing by know what you are protesting though. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
| reply to digitalfreak
Re: Liars
said by digitalfreak :We need caps to avoid the Internet Apocalypse! The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Don't worry, AT&T and Time Warner et al will happily sell you their Apocalypse add-on package for the ultra low price of $9.99 a month. |
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000 | reply to me1212
Re: Cap or Per Byte
Just like they won't increase throughput? It's unreasonable to think they won't increase caps as time goes along. |
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funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
| Remember CompuServe?
CompuServe - late 1980s-early 1990s
$6.00/hour at 300 baud
$12.50/hour at 1200/2400 baud
Now they knew how to meter!
Why on Earth would we want to go back to that?
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Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- District of Columbia -- KJ7RL |
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fishacura
join:2008-01-25
Phoenixville, PA
| I don't get it...
If my neighbor is downloading 500 GB per month and I am downloading 1GB per month, why shouldn't he/she pay a lot more than I do? What does the carriers cost have to do with anything? What the decide to charge, in a capitalistic system, is based on what the market will bear. People pay markups for everything and if a company drives their price up above the demand, they will fail...simple economics.
What am I missing?
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People who don't get good service on average tell 10 others while people who do get good service on average tell 1. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
1 edit | reply to tdouglas22
Re: So what do WE need to do to make our voices heard again?
said by tdouglas22 :We can't just sit by and let this go through. We have to do something to get it across that this is NOT good for the customers and does nothing to help us. Ideas, anybody? I'm all eyes and ears. You can call, write, fax those who make policy and those who carry it out. Here are some links that lets you find these people:
»whorunsgov.com/
»whorunsgov.com/Congress/Leadership
»whorunsgov.com/hill_staff
»whorunsgov.com/administration_officials
»www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page |
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
| reply to S_engineer
Re: Liars
said by S_engineer :I think it's high time congress dragged these clowns to the hill and interogated them on where all of the money for upgrades through tax incentives has gone. They did it to AIG, and GM, they should now do it to TW, and the Death Star. I would hardly call this particular event you refer to as "dragging." More like rolling out the red carpet and throwing roses at their feet. These chumpstains from AIG et al. got the royal treatment. Never in a million years would I ever refer to it as an "interrogation." More like Congre$$ional lickspittles verbally fellating their constituency.
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The Toll
Tracking Lord Stanley
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spamd
Premium
join:2001-04-22
Rockford, IL
·Insight Communicat..
| The future of the internet.
Anyone here who thinks that metered billing is not going to happen is in for a rude awakening. History has proven that big business always gets what they want in the end. I expect to see metered billing used by all ISP's in late 2010 if not later that the end of 2011. If you notice that all wireless ISP's all ready do have this in place. Just look at the latest headlines.
»Oh AT&T Tethering 'Sources,' You Taunt Us
»gigaom.com/2009/06/18/broadband-···by-2011/
»Verizon Unveils Global Broadband 3G Modem
»Lawmaker Unveils Anti-Metered Billing Law
»Higher Prices, Recession Can't Stop Broadband Growth
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When everything is coming your way, you are in the wrong lane. |
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tdouglas22
join:2001-09-25
Memphis, TN | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: So what do WE need to do to make our voices heard again?
Thank you. I suggest written letters as well as emails. |
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