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.'"

Comments

What is it people have against bandwidth caps?

[Tridus]

People sure do mind bandwidth caps, don't they?

They seem to mind it more then Comcast simply shaping-out certain types of traffic. They mind it more then the infamous "you used too much unlimited bandwidth, so we're cutting you off without warning" letters that used to go out.

Its really not as big a deal as either of these things. Being up front about how much traffic you're actually paying for is good. It means that when this competition appears in the market, they can offer up different pricing models. The current system of everybody paying the same rate no matter what their usage is sucks for everybody except the top 5% of users.

What I'd like to see is straight up metered usage, like power. Pay $10/month for the connection, then $0.50/GB or something. The people running BitTorrent 24/7 downloading every movie in existence will then have to pay their own way instead of paying the same rate as grandma chatting on MSN.

Its time for people to wake up and get realistic. Unlimited connections exist in very few places. What we can get instead is straightforward payment for the traffic we use, or lies and pretending to be unlimited while they actively interfere with traffic they don't like (or simply cut off people who use too much).