Comcast/etc....

[mike neuliep]

Brad,

The ISP co-op that I use for kclug, http://www.ispfh.org uses a metered
bandwidth pricing structure.  It is about 80 cents per Kbit of guaranteed
bandwidth.  This model has worked out real well for me since I know
exactly what I'm getting and exactly what I'm paying and there is no
questioning of my usage patterns.

	Mike

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Mike Neuliep     | Pager: 630-314-0163 | Web, mail & domain hosting services
Illiana Internet |                     | Firewall and network configurations
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On Fri, 25 Jan 2002, Bradley Miller wrote:

> >Imagine cable companies offering digital cable channels and faster
> broadband at competitive prices. ;-)
> 
> 
> Herein lies the rub for all these types of things.  Bandwidth costs money.
>  Right now I have 10+ PC's all on my DSL for my home office.  I pay a
> higher premium for my DSL service (but not as expensive as SWBell would
> charge) to have my service.   At most, my wife might be surfing while I am
> working and perhaps down the road my son will be online also.  Big deal.
> Are the cable companies really that worried about that type of traffic . .
> . probably not in all honesty.   It's when we all start to decided to snag
> the latest MP3's, movie trailers or whatever from the net that things get a
> little hairy for bandwidth.   
> 
> How would you deal with it from a business perspective?   Each month you
> get ?? cable channels or dish channels and you probably don't watch more
> than one at a time . . . yet you pay for the option of doing that.
> Unfortunately bandwidth isn't fixed quite like that . . . but what if it
> was?   What if they metered your speed.  You want more speed, you pay more.
>   Do you think $40/month is reasonable for the typical bandwidth a home
> could suck down?   Now picture something as simple as a subdivision in
> terms of bandwidth.  Look at any typical MRTG graph and you'll see exactly
> why companies have to look at what they're doing.  Do you put in enough
> bandwidth everywhere to handle that crush?   How many ISP's have made money
> by having a 1:1 dial up ratio? 
> 
> Personally, I think they should have metered bandwidth with pricepoints for
> different levels of data connections.  I'm not saying have a
> "20gig/$50/month" limit, more like a window for download speeds.  If you
> have one PC, do you need more than 400K/sec?   A tiered pricing structure
> would give people the best of both worlds.
> 
> What about metered pricing though?  Every other commodity is priced that
> way.  We buy a gallon of gas, get water based on so many thousand gallons
> and electriciy is by the kilowatt/hour.   Why not bandwidth?   Would your
> download habits change?  If the price was right I could see a minimum
> connect charge (say $15/month) and then a $??/gig transfer fee.  Will
> people yell?  Yes -- they are to used to the "give me all I can get"
> mentality.  The Internet "metality" is free, but somewhere along the line
> someone forgot to mention that the infrastructure has to be paid for
> somehow.   We'd all love a 6 lane highway from KC to St. Louis, but once we
> realize who's paying for it . . . 
> 
> The new 3G wireless phones are on the brink of coming out -- but how do you
> price them?  Do you think they're honestly going to let someone tie a cell
> and bandwidth to be "Mr. MP3 Jukebox" for 1/2 the country?   
> 
> -- Bradley Miller
> 
> 
>