said by tiger72
:said by Boinkfoobarnet :Umm ... the equipment is capital intensive and the bandwidth is purchased. Me thinks you have not taken undergrad economics
Me thinks you earned a degree in overanalyzation.
I didn't think I needed to spend the time to describe precisely that there is a set amount of throughput per second that can be used and that there was investment to be able to transmit the data that is transferred, and that networking agreements also play into TW's decision, etc.. etc.. I believe that most readers can grasp that network equipment and data is *not* of the same nature as oil flowing through pipelines experiencing wear as more oil is pumped which deteriorates the infrastructure, which over time leads to ever-increasing expenditures on maintenance, etc...
An ISP can at best be described as a street which doesn't generate the traffic, it just facilitates its transfer. However, unlike a road which experiences physical wear and tear from the weight of ever-flowing traffic (as well as large loads on trucks, for example), a user transmitting a 4GB file does no more "damage" to the network infrastructure than 4 users transmitting 1GB files each, or 400 users transmitting 10MB a piece, contrary to what the ISP's claim.
Is that a slight bit more clear?
It is clear, but the following applies. A business model provides the ability to make net revenue.