Slashdot Mirror
Bandwidth Caps May Be Critical Error For Broadband Companies
Technical Writing Geek writes "An Ars Technica article argues that after many years of stagnation, the US broadband landscape is finally 'primed for change'. Companies like Time Warner that decide to cap bandwidth risk being relegated to a 'broadband ghetto. Alternatives to the standard cable modem vs. DSL conundrum will come from technologies like WiMax and (eventually) the 'white space' broadband that might be offered by whoever wins the 700mhz auction. 'All of that is to say that cable and DSL won't always be the only games in town. If wireless solutions are able to deliver on their promises of high speeds with no usage limits, capped cable broadband service like Time Warner has planned is likely to be unattractive, to say the least. Instead of developing plans designed to discourage consumers from feeding at the bandwidth trough, cable companies would be better served in the long run by making investments in new technologies like DOCSIS 3.0 and the kind of infrastructure improvements necessary to meet bandwidth demands.'"
I read it too. why does every front page story there need to be shunted here? Even if the larger majority of /. readers DON'T read ars, then at least we can refrain from linking >50% of the stories there. Ars has some great post-news cycle analysis of technical issues, and those deserve to be linked here (along w/ their product reviews, which are the best in the industry, IMO), but not every column in response to an industry change. There ought to be a soft cap of like 2 links a month to that site.....sigh.
huh?