Is Restricting Bandwidth the Future of the Internet?

Leave it to US-based corporations to ruin a great idea such as the internet because they want it to be about "CONTROL" so they can charge the maximum while providing the minimum.

Now, not only are satellite internet companies implementing traffic limits via their FAP policies, now it looks like the regular land-based telcos like Comcast are imposing caps too.

Comcast and the amazing invisible bandwidth barrier.
" . . . . But this is another example of how the uncompetitive cable/telecom duopoly in this country enables such arbitrary business decisions. Overall broadband growth is on the decline in America, and much like credit card companies, the incumbent providers will unlock the higher speeds and offer more bells and whistles to retain customers or fight for restless subscribers to other services, rather than actually offer better terms of service or expand to underserved areas. . . . "


The article links are pretty informative too. For instance.....

Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users
". . . . The company, which a few years ago advertised the service as “unlimited” has an “acceptable use policy” which enforces the invisible download limit.

The 23-part policy, states that it is a breach of contract to generate “levels of traffic sufficient to impede others' ability to send or retrieve information.” But nowhere does it detail what levels of traffic will impede others. . . . "


Putting a lid on broadband use
" . . . . Hard caps and fuzzy ones
Different ISPs are taking widely different approaches to this issue, although caps seem for now to be limited to the cable companies.

Cox Communications started phasing in hard usage limits in February, and now a majority of that company's subscribers are limited to downloading 2 gigabytes a day--the equivalent of about two compressed feature-length movies or about 400 MP3 songs. AOL Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem service recently instituted download caps of 40 gigabytes per month.

Comcast's policy has proven most controversial. The company's terms of service say only that users cannot "represent (in the sole judgment of Comcast) an unusually large burden on the network." According to a spokeswoman, the company began sending notes about two months ago to the top 1 percent of the heaviest users--people who collectively use about 28 percent of the company's bandwidth--telling them they were violating their terms of service. . . . "


Comcast imposing invisible caps again
" . . . . Its been 2 years since I have seen this, but needless to say If you are a high downloader, you will be getting a call or letter soon.

I got a call from some not so intelligent Comcast employee today. Regarding network abuse. Now I have the Pro Account $95/mo for 6MB/768K I believe the speeds are. Anyways, I dealt with this little issue about 2 years ago. I had gotten a call from the same $5.75/hr person. Saying the samething, too much usage, can't tell ya how much nor can I tell what is a reasonable limit.

Now 2 years ago when I called my local office (best advice, i will be doing this Monday) Locals advised me that I needed the Pro Account, so I signed up for it and maintained my usage. My usage hasn't changed much, yet Today, I got the call. . . . "


The Battle For Better Broadband
" . . . . Is government regulation of the Net necessary? In this case, I would say “Yes.” Look, it’s a reality that U.S. broadband development and penetration is abysmal. Major telecoms like AT&T and Verizon would rather use the Universal Service Fund–which was ostensibly designed to spur investment in rural broadband–as a slush fund to subsidize their cost overruns and whatever big project they have going. (In fact, you may recall that both telecoms petitioned for regulatory relief from paying the USF–and then promptly charged customers a brand-new fee with no explanation that went right into their pockets, until a consumer outcry forced them to give it up.) . . . . "


Verizon Admits that their Unlimited Data Plan is Limited to 5GB Per Month
" . . . . So all the service is really good for is viewing websites and sending emails since you cannot download or upload anything. They say that sending emails is okay, but what about if you constantly have large attachments in your email which results in high bandwidth usage? Does that fall under the download/upload restriction that can terminate your account, or is that considered acceptable use since it is an email? . . . . "


Broadband Growth is Decelerating
" . . . . Over at Emerging Media Dynamics (my consulting firm), we’ve just completed an analysis of broadband growth trends and have confirmed what many folks have lately suspected. Broadband growth is, in fact, slowing down, at least in the U.S., a logical development that had to happen sooner or later. It makes sense that it would happen now given that penetration of high-speed Internet service has top the 50% household milestone. . . . "



NOTE to US telcos and satellite internet providers:
This is why the US is falling behind the rest of the world in many areas including technology. You're negatively affecting CREATIVITY & PRODUCTIVITY with your business models.