Is the Internet Ready for Pay Per Use?

Large corporate telecommunication companies have been pushing for a pay for use charge on Internet access for years. They want that two tier Internet and will stop at nothing to implement it. The wolves are out to fleece the sheep. One particular large wolf, Frontier Communications Corp likes to be seen as a nice rural provider, but this is one of the largest telecoms in the nation. Providing services in 23 states for digital TV, broadband, and telephone services among others. Their goal is to charge users by use rather than flat monthly access. There goes the neighborhood.

Frontier Communication Corp claims, “It is important that customers that use less don’t subsidize those that use the most.” Such socialistic claims of equality ring hollow after years of price gouging and service failures due to service cutbacks while hosting packages are priced on triple oversold capacities. Today these corporate giant want to scan your online activity with the excuse that you might use more than your neighbor. While they spy on your use you can expect them to give you a friendly call if they do not like you using your bandwidth or what you might be doing.

Since the advent of the popular hypertext protocol the Internet has seen explosive growth. Streaming video adds to this growth exponentially. Yet the bandwidth available from giants like Frontier Communication are vast, underutilized and already in place. The packages offered by Internet providers usually carry no restriction other than don’t abuse it. As long as the average of an installed base did not exceed the limit there is no problem.

The bandwidth is there and no problem exists yet what these companies want you to think is that no one should get more than a subjectively decided piece. They want the public to think if you don’t use something no one else should. Telecoms have always been happy to eat up the pennies you never see and this is a gold mine for them. If they can meter Internet use they will have made their two-tier world appear where it should not. Only those that can afford it will see what they want, the rest will have to suffice with what the telecoms decide you should settle for.

These are end runs using marketing 301 to cloak metered Internet into a “you should not have to subsidize others.” These companies have oversold their bandwidth for years and with no shortage of bandwidth they have figured a way to make sure they get their desired metered Internet. Don’t let them get away with it.

References