Verizon Again Hints At Metered Billing > Sorry but...

said by Rick:

I just can't take the entirely negative attitude towards this that the above editorial does.

I think for starters..it can be argued that broadband these days is absurdly inexpensive....COMPARED to what it used to be.
Is anyone with me on recalling the several hundred dollar per month dial up bills we used to pay and where a 28.8 dial up modem was something we waited breathlessly for to come out?

I mean..we are light years away from those days..at 1/10th the costs in some cases. (at least my case from those compuserve bills I used to receive).

And, we are continually seeing speeds increases and in the case of Comcast ....2 times the speeds being rolled out as the standard tier..at no additional cost from where the flat rate pricing has stood for years now.

And..we have all witnessed on this site how the heavy users cry even when 250 ~400 gig caps are imposed on them.

The question is..what is fair? Whether it's AT&T ..Verizon..comcast or whomever...these are companies in the business to make money. They are not charity organizations. They are companies who collectively spent billions and billions of dollars rolling out these networks. And today..they give us 1000's of times the speeds..at fractions of the cost that these things used to be for consumers.

A 42.95 per month service..costs a consumer One DOLLAR and 43 cents per day. For unlimited service. Who..and what..in this world..offers THAT kind of value..for THAT small a price?
Save 3 stamps a day..and you paid for that by emailing instead.
Everywhere we look..the internet can save us. From shopping online..to price comparisons..to emailing...to whatever.
I bought my last residence at a great price because of the internet..and the resources it brought to my fingertips. And that saved me tens of thousands of dollars. As I did a vehicle off ebay motors..saving thousands more. But yet..the companies that make it happen aren't supposed to make a profit? And 1.50 or 2.00 a day is ...too much?

I think it's the biggest bargain of the century. And nothing less than that. From videos to emailing to the countless hours on BBR to all the entertainment there is out there on the WWW..
from online banking to brokerages to shopping to everything else..the net has become our right hand. Indespensible..but yet..for some..it's not viewed as being worth..a dollar fifty a day?

That cigarette they smoke is though..or that hamburger at mcd's..or cup of coffee which costs MORE than this is though.
Sorry..but I just think that some have their priorities not in order..and have failed to consider the value that is our internet connections.

I..for one..don't think that average consumers should have to pay for those who want to use 250 gigs a month and more.
I think that THEY should pay for that. And..I think it should be available to them to do so. I ALSO don't think that average consumers should somehow expect to pay LESS than they do now under a per gigabyte billing system..because I think it's already priced very fairly for what it is. I think..it all boils down to ...people already get a LOT for their money. And, those who want more..should pay for it. But..for everyone else..whether it's a 1000k dsl connection for 20 bucks..or a cable connection for 42.95..I think people get their monies worth many times over. And....if you don't think so..then maybe you never lived through the early 1990's..or forgot what life was like back then compared to now.

~Rick

said by nunyabiz :

Hows the kool aid taste? You argue that you dont want to pay for those who 250 gigs a month, so you think your bill will be lower than what it is now? I would bet it would go up. You say you use the internet for videos, emailing, and you even bought a car off ebay, how much do you use in a month? With some of the low CAPs being thrown around, you could already be a "bandwith hog". The current business models already net the ISPs billions yes billions of PROFIT! But they see the writing on the wall with video delivery services cutting into their TV profits, so they are just finding new ways to bill you in the name of network capacity.

said by hottboiinnc:

until VZ limits your usage.

People on here keep saying VZ won't but they keep saying they WILL.

I've been saying for years now, VZ will give you a metered bill and since its on FiOS you'll love it just like their product.

Take it or leave it. And if you leave it, shut up and build your own network like they're doing.

said by caco:

You forgot to add the cost of the people to maintain the network which does usually go up every year since most employees like and expect raises.

Sharholders also expect x return every year for the money invested. The only way for that share price to go up is for a company to increase revenue. The only way for company to increase revenue is to offer more services or raise the prices of services already offered or budget cuts(employee layoffs,less capital expenditures).

said by jmn1207:

Rick,

Sorry, but this move is all about capping usage. None of us will see lower bills, and a few customers that transfer tons of data will either pay a lot more, or they will have to reduce their bandwidth consumption.

said by jmn1207:

Rick,

Sorry, but this move is all about capping usage. None of us will see lower bills, and a few customers that transfer tons of data will either pay a lot more, or they will have to reduce their bandwidth consumption.

said by jmn1207:

Nobody is interested in capping such low speed tiers, as these are absolutely no threat to an ISP becoming a dumb pipe. It's with Verizon's FiOS service where they would even possibly consider imposing metered billing.

I see this happening with most oligopolies, in the same fashion that has happened with the oil companies.
...

But until this pesky net neutrality talk is squashed, or they come up with a new workaround, Verizon is going to be content to hold off and wait, for now.

said by NOVA_Guy:

and you've taken the bait hook, line, and sinker.

said by Skippy25:

Don't be fooled, Rick here is the one holding the fishing rod.

He directly benefits from us paying more so his opinions should be "heard" with that in mind.

said by Rick:

LoL...nothing like a good conspiracy theory from someone who doesn't know me from Adam to liven up a thread.

But..yea..you're right. I do benefit from per gigabyte billing. I'm the gatekeeper to all the isp's and everything you send I get a cut of.

Nice detective work figuring me out.

"Fairness" would involve all customers actually paying only for what they use under a pure per-byte billing model.

said by Romney2012:

So let's discuss what is a good connection cost and what is a good usage charge for service. The idea that if you don't use the internet for a month and you pay nothing is absurd.

said by jhboricua:

Funny, I didn't see anywhere in Karl's post where he even hinted that non-usage meant you didn't pay anything. He is spot-on that a metered billing should be a pure per-byte billing model. The only one who absurdly interpreted this this into 'If you don't use the internet for a month you shouldn't pay nothing' was you.