NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] FW: Re: Verizon LTE Blows Through Monthly Data Cap in 32 Minutes
The transit cost (with exception of tiny rural ISPs) has always been a small component of the total costs of an ISP. AT&T and Verizon each have close to 300,000 paychecks to write every two weeks is another expense. There are many other costs. But even the "few dollars per customer" cost is misleadingly low. Why? Because it's based on the average user who uses only a few GB a month. What is the transit cost of a heavy user who uses 1000 GB per month? Probably exceeds what they actually pay for the broadband service. If the average user was using 30 GB per month (up from 3 GB), that would raise the transit costs from "a few dollars" to tens of dollars. That would pretty much put an ISP out of business if they had to pay transit. If they aren't paying for transit, it would require billions in upgrades since they own the transit. That 6% to 10% net margin that ISPs are making would vanish just like that. George -----Original Message----- From: nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org] On Behalf Of Rahul Tongia Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 8:21 PM To: Lauren Weinstein Cc: nnsquad@nnsquad.org Subject: [ NNSquad ] Re: Verizon LTE Blows Through Monthly Data Cap in 32 Minutes If we accept network limitations as a genuine reasons for caps, with sane (true cost driven) pricing, then the same argument should apply to fixed broadband. Caps on DSL or cable at just 10-30 GB are not only low, they are not linked to the cost of "uplinking" - we had an honest (perhaps accidental) admission by the CTO of a baby-bell who said the average uplink cost per consumer was just a few dollars per month. Say the usage has gone up 3x - bandwidth costs have also fallen, so the net cost would still be on the range of $5/month +/1 (???). Rahul On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 7:13 AM, Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com> wrote: > > Verizon LTE Blows Through Monthly Data Cap in 32 Minutes > > http://bit.ly/icWPTy (PCMag) > > --Lauren-- > NNSquad Moderator >