axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to RideRed
Caps need to be published for competitive reasons
Yeah, if everyone published their caps then it can be used as a point of competition in advertising. The way it is now, companies don't like to discuss it, because all of them would like to not compete on this. When they do, caps necessarily match the highest competitor.
Here are the things I can think of that can be competed on:
price
average uptime (95% is probably fine for homes)
downstream bandwidth
upstream bandwidth
download cap
upload cap
average latency
customer service |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Speakeasy
| Generally agree. But if providers not only published their caps but also had a 'your bandwidth usage this month' meters, you know many folks would push it to the bare limit. Providers may pick a random number, say 10gb, to trigger a warning but that doesn't mean that everyone doing 9.9gb is ok...
KM
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Don't Lie - Be Kind - Realize your Potential |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| said by KoolMoe  :Generally agree. But if providers not only published their caps but also had a 'your bandwidth usage this month' meters, you know many folks would push it to the bare limit. The people who would push it to the limit would only be the ones currently pushing it beyond the limit.
If you only surf, download say 2-3 gigs a month, then why would you suddenly go on a tear and "push it to the limit" if they told you the cap was 50 gigs a month?
I suspect providing the tools would allow people more control over their usage and would enable competition. I think this is the real reason they don't want to reveal the "invisible" caps.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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FutureMon
OW My Eyes
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2000-10-05
Colorado Springs, CO
clubs: 
| reply to axus
said by axus :average uptime (95% is probably fine for homes) Unless my math is on crack, at 24 hours per day, 31 days per month, 95% uptime guarantee also meaning the equivalent of a 5% loss, would be an approximate downtime of up to 37 hours per month.
Nowhere near acceptable to me.
I just wanted to pick on that one point.
- FM
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Undisputed BBR Karaoke Champion! Care to challenge me? |
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