amungusPremium
join:2004-11-26
America Reviews:
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| if... If anything is true here, it's that the entire mess is almost toatally mis-understood by the ISP, be them cable or telco.
They (ISP's) have been consistently (for the most part) upgrading both their infrastructure, and plant operations since their inception. This includes, say, new routers/switches, some new lines, newer nodes (Cox uses fiber, then coax...). They are obviously still making money in the process.
What really gets me to agree with the "neutral" side of the debate are statements like the following from Mr. Thinks-he's-hot-in-the-pants...
“in order for the Internet to keep up with it [growing bandwidth consumption]…it’s going to require investment” and therefore someone has to pay for the investment.
...Yes. And that is you sir, the ISP. You have done this for years. Others have been doing this for years.
I'd really really really like to hear somebody honestly debate this point. Seriously. They can afford their high end equipment, the massive bandwidth, so I'm at a loss here.
Search engines use so LITTLE in terms of file sizes for their pages, it's really absurd to think of them "clogging" in ISP's bandwidth. What they're likely more upset are people really using their bandwidth for everything else. So what if Google has a bazillion ads all over the entire net, making them some money. The cost of transporting even MILLIONS of their banner ads to AND FROM them is likely much less than two people sitting at home sharing a .WAV file.
Say I collaborate with a musician across the country. We're working on an album. Not sharing mp3's, I'm talking sending each other .WAV's or FLAC's. Even one song, 5 minutes long, would equate to more than I don't even know how many thousands of search pages or ads bouncing across the wire.
The job of an ISP is to make sure their wires transmit and receive data in a stable and timely manner. Nothing else. If they crave more income, then develop something else that people will buy. Simple as that. If they want to offer up something cool like ATT's Blue Room, and webcast entire concerts, let them. Thing is, that's free right now. It might not be in the future. Hmm... there's one way to make a buck right there.
Partnering with subscription services like Rhapsody... = $$$ for ISP's... It's a service people actually want to pay for because it's worth something.................
Charging either customers, or corporations more money for absolutely nothing makes no sense. Both parties already pay for their connection... I fail to see where this magical 3rd charge should originate.
This whole stance on charging more for companies who actually make money is sick. Absurd. Borderline insane.
I'd really like to see an honest debate on this. |
