

Will broadband caps strangle Web growth? - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/06/26/will-broadband-caps-strangle-web-growth

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ComputerGuru
There's no need for an article, it's a one-word answer: Yes.

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axod
No. People will change providers if they start capping.

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misterbwong
In general, I would agree but it seems like the broadband provider space is a
bit different. Those of us in larger metropolitan areas can freely switch
between several providers but customers in more rural areas have very few
providers to choose from (if any). Many of the companies that DO serve up
broadband in these areas enjoy a kind of local-monopoly. They can do pretty
much anything they want because there are no other competitors around.
Consumers in these areas are pretty much screwed if their provider decides to
cap.

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axod
I think the market will adjust though. If enough people get bad enough
service, someone will come in and give a better service.

Assuming there aren't regulatory or other barriers to entry.

The US does seem pretty bad where these things are concerned though.

In the UK we have literally hundreds of broadband suppliers to choose from.
Yes the majority go through BT, but the terms etc are decided by the broadband
suppliers, so you have loads of plans to choose from - capped, uncapped,
cheap, expensive, etc etc

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pistoriusp
We've had capping since the introduction of ADSL in South Africa.

To give you an indication as of today I've used 4362MB of my 5GB cap. For
which I pay $30 on top of my 512kbit/s line rental of $25). Yes, Internet
sucks in South Africa.

We've got a population of +- 48 million, of which 4 million people use
Internet and 1 million are using "broadband."

The high cost, low speeds, and small bandwidth allocations have hurt the
growth of Internet here dramatically.

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fourlittlebees
Will it strangle Web growth? No. Video and other multimedia? Yes. I think this
decision on the part of providers like TWC has more to do with getting in bed
with the MPAA and the RIAA than it does about costs or high-bandwidth users.

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pchristensen
Yes, if everyone imposes them.

If one or only a few companies impose caps, look for rising market share of
those companies that don't, probably about 1-2 billing cycles after the other
companies cap downloads.

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Chris8535
These arbitrary limits frustrate me and show how big telco networks hinder
growth and innovation in favor of propping up their outdated technologies.

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Hexstream
I think it's the cappers that will get strangled...

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bgutierrez
Broadband caps are a drag, but I would enjoy thinking of ways to deliver cool
web-apps that are light on bandwidth usage.

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lakeeffect
Yes. Do people talk less on their mobile that have less minutes.

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edw519
_it was the introduction of a flat rate unlimited mobile data plan by AT &T
that caused iPhone usage to soar_

Didn't the same the happen with cell phone calls?

When is the last time you worried about "minutes"?

