Verizon CTO: Metered Broadband Is the Future

gigaom.com

5 points·dwynings··4 comments

This is ridiculous. Consumers want a flat-rate unlimited option because they don't want a variable monthly payment (or to be nickeled and dimed).

May times they even pay a premium to do so.

But at some level doesn't it cost Verizon more the more I download? Why shouldn't they be allowed to pass down that cost?

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how this is any different from my electricity bill. Sure, I'd love an economical flat-rate power plan, but I don't expect to get it any time soon.

People conflate metered internet with Net Neutrality. They're not the same thing. There's a big difference between Verizon charging more for using lots of bandwidth and Verizon charging more (or blocking) VoIP services that compete with their main business.

One could just as easily equate high speed internet to Cable television. You don't get charged more for watching more.

In the end it's somewhere in the middle. But the reality is that companies are making money now off unlimited access and those handy anti-trust laws we have prevent all the Internet companies from banding together to implement metered access. So even if it did make more sense it's unlikely a provider could implement it without losing out to competition (since again the current model is profitable)

I mostly agree you and think I wouldn't trust this guy as the CTO of a lemon aide stand. I do think we'll start seeing limits on data transfer in the future though. Very high limits but limits none the less.

It's sort of like Gmail. 99.9% of people never come close to filling it up. But for those who go over there's a way to pay for more. As digital video becomes more prevalent I think providers will have to institute some kind of system to crack down on the biggest of data hogs (many already do)

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