| reply to SuperWISP
Re: Bandwidth costs money. (Duh!) OK....there is a very fundamental mistake in your logic. You are correct that bandwidth cost money, but you are conflating two thing....bandwidth and usage.
Bandwidth is the CAPACITY of your Internet connection. Think of it as the size of an empty pipe. This is what we pay for today...a connection SPEED or bandwidth. Back to the pipe. The bandwidth (size) of the pipe doesn't care if it's empty or if water is flowing through it at full rate.
Usage on the other hand is the AMOUNT of water that flows through the pipe. Now the utility company charges you based on the AMOUNT of water you use because water is a limited natural resource.
Now back to your Internet bandwidth. ISPs know that the true cost of providing service is in providing the connection. This is because that's the same pricing model the ISPs are charged to pay for their connection to a backhaul carrier or to each other. The cost is in the connection size or capacity or BANDWIDTH, whether that connection is running at full capacity or sitting idle. Bits themselves cost nothing. They're not a limited natural resource like water, gas, coal, etc.
So in summary:
Bandwith = capacity = speed = true cost of service and the fair business model we operate under today.
Usage = amount = actual bits = a fabricated business model not based on actual costs which represents a pure money grab by ISPs based on punitive overage charges. |
 espaethDigital PlumberPremium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
kudos:2
 ·Clear Wireless
| You've left oversubscription out of your equation.
The sum of all access connections (ie, end-user broadband connections) is greater than the total capacity at distribution. As usage at the edge increases, real money needs to be spent to upgrade capacity at distribution.
That's where the usage-based billing systems are derived from -- it's developing the funding source to provide the capital for future upgrades on oversubscribed links. It sets up a system that those who contribute the most towards driving future expansion pay end up covering most of the expense. |
