This is a great idea, ensuring everyone has fair and unrestricted access to at least a 1Mb connection (on the download side) is a great idea. Not only will it force companies to improve infrastructure, but it will force down prices on higher speed, higher limit connections (people are going to be asking, why should I pay $30 for your 10Mb connection with 60Gb limit, when I pay $0 for a 1Mb unlimited connection).
I wish this would come into play in Canada, especially for people in rural areas. People should have access to the internet, just like they have access to telephones, without prejudice to where they live.
> Not only will it force companies to improve infrastructure
What it does is require some people to subsidize other people's connections. The details determine which people fall into which group and the excuse used to collect the money.
> people are going to be asking, why should I pay $30 for your 10Mb connection with 60Gb limit, when I pay $0 for a 1Mb unlimited connection
Yup. That means that the subsidy money won't come from other bandwidth purchasers. However, it will come from somewhere, or rather someones.
How is forcing companies to give services away for free a good idea? What if most people decide that 1Mb is good enough and don't pay for anything? It seems like this is bad for the people who are willing to pay.
Where people live has a huge impact on the cost of providing internet service to them, so why shouldn't it matter where they live?
I wish this would come into play in Canada, especially for people in rural areas. People should have access to the internet, just like they have access to telephones, without prejudice to where they live.