04-14-2009, 05:53 AM
Yesterday on NPR they played a segment called "Internet Bandwidth Hogs May Soon Pay For It", a podcast of this article can be heard at http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=103041709&m=103054528
In it it is said that Time Warner, the owner of our local Road Runner internet provider, is working up to switching to a pay as you go (or use) bandwidth billing model, that will allow users a fixed amount of bandwidth per month, with any usage over that fixed amount being billed as extra. The numbers quoted in their tiered billing structure are 1 gig per month for regular service, 5 gigs a months for premium service, and a 1 dollar charge for every gig over that.
The reporter was quick to point out that this system, especially at such low allowable amounts of traffic, is in direct competition with the way many people use the internet, especially if one uses sites like hulu.com, or streaming video from Netflix etc. while Time Warner is in the business, through their cable tv service, to sell the user the same entertainment.
So, my question is, how many gigs of traffic (both uploading and downloading) do you use a month?
Another question is, if you use such sites as hulu, where a one hour tv show can amount to close to 500 megs, would you be willing to pay Oceanic 50 cents for the ability to watch that show? Or Netflix, where a streaming HD movie can amount to upwards of 7 gigs (7 bucks!)
My take on this is that it is priced so high as to really limit the internet and its use in my life. My wife, who works from home a major part of the time, uses well over 1 gig a month just for work. If I had a house full of kids (they've all grown) how much would their legitimate network usage be? So what is a 'reasonable' amount of bandwidth for the 'average' household? I ask this question first to try and get a perspective on my own use, and secondly to start the discussion here on what I figure will be a major showdown between our ISP's and our way of using the internet in the future, especially as more and more web sites pop up providing more and more to do, with more content (bandwidth) to download to enjoy them. Sheesh, just going to the home page of cnn.com is almost a one meg download. I suspect there will be a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with this plan, but wonder if there will be a way for concerned people to have a say in how this all goes down. After all it is not like most of us have a choice. There is only one ISP where I am, no choice but Road Runner here. So, will our PUC get involved? and if so to what end?
Any comments?
In it it is said that Time Warner, the owner of our local Road Runner internet provider, is working up to switching to a pay as you go (or use) bandwidth billing model, that will allow users a fixed amount of bandwidth per month, with any usage over that fixed amount being billed as extra. The numbers quoted in their tiered billing structure are 1 gig per month for regular service, 5 gigs a months for premium service, and a 1 dollar charge for every gig over that.
The reporter was quick to point out that this system, especially at such low allowable amounts of traffic, is in direct competition with the way many people use the internet, especially if one uses sites like hulu.com, or streaming video from Netflix etc. while Time Warner is in the business, through their cable tv service, to sell the user the same entertainment.
So, my question is, how many gigs of traffic (both uploading and downloading) do you use a month?
Another question is, if you use such sites as hulu, where a one hour tv show can amount to close to 500 megs, would you be willing to pay Oceanic 50 cents for the ability to watch that show? Or Netflix, where a streaming HD movie can amount to upwards of 7 gigs (7 bucks!)
My take on this is that it is priced so high as to really limit the internet and its use in my life. My wife, who works from home a major part of the time, uses well over 1 gig a month just for work. If I had a house full of kids (they've all grown) how much would their legitimate network usage be? So what is a 'reasonable' amount of bandwidth for the 'average' household? I ask this question first to try and get a perspective on my own use, and secondly to start the discussion here on what I figure will be a major showdown between our ISP's and our way of using the internet in the future, especially as more and more web sites pop up providing more and more to do, with more content (bandwidth) to download to enjoy them. Sheesh, just going to the home page of cnn.com is almost a one meg download. I suspect there will be a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with this plan, but wonder if there will be a way for concerned people to have a say in how this all goes down. After all it is not like most of us have a choice. There is only one ISP where I am, no choice but Road Runner here. So, will our PUC get involved? and if so to what end?
Any comments?