Slashdot Mirror
BBC and ISPs Clash over iPlayer
randomtimes writes "A row about who should pay for extra network costs incurred by the iPlayer has broken out between internet service providers (ISPs) and the BBC. ISPs say the on-demand TV service is putting strain on their networks, which need to be upgraded to cope. '"The iPlayer has come along and made downloading a legal and mass market activity," said Michael Phillips, from broadband comparison service broadbandchoices.co.uk. He said he believed ISPs were partly to blame for the bandwidth problems they now face. "They have priced themselves as cheaply as possible on the assumption that people were just going to use e-mail and do a bit of web surfing," he said. ISPs needed to stop using the term 'unlimited' to describe their services and make it clear that if people wanted to watch hours of downloaded video content they would have to pay a higher tariff, he added.'"
The Internet will stay fixed cost. If ISPs start any anti-consumer practices that affect real-world bills they're going to see a massive backlash. And the public is going to start wondering if perhaps the reason that prices for bandwidth are so high is because the internet backbone is controlled by a monopoly. A monopoly that should be split up so that there can be affordable Internet.
Broadband is currently too expensive. Not too cheap. Cell phone plans are ridiculously expensive. This isn't due to the cost of doing business. It's due to the cost of supporting a worldwide phone monopoly. Break up AT&T.
Heck this might be a great way to stimulate our economy. Think how many jobs would be created if the cell, internet and phone networks were open to any company. Think of the innovation.