Sep 09, 2008
We’re all familiar with cell phone payment plans, where you get a certain amount of minutes, and additional usage incurs extra charges.
It seemed as if it was just a matter of time before Internet service providers wised up to this ever profitable system – and one finally has, recently announcing its plan to cap users’ bandwidth at 250 gigabytes per month.
Though Comcast claims this system has always been their policy, ISPs typically do not enforce bandwidth usage among their users. Beginning Oct. 1, 2008, users who exceed this limit will be “contacted by the company and asked to curb their usage” and those who refuse to comply may find themselves disconnected, according to the Associated Press (and also stated on the Comcast Terms of Service Web site).
Many questions arise when a system we are so used to is altered, for one: why? Major ISPs are working with systems nearly a decade old that are having trouble dealing with the ever-expanding amount of Internet users.
When the system gets clogged up, customers find their Internet connections moving slower and that forces ISPs to either invest in extremely expensive hardware upgrades, or limit those who are using the highest percentages of the bandwidth.
This cap is said to affect only 0.1 percent of Comcast’s estimated 14 million subscribers, but how is one to know where they stand? Comcast’s Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Douglas was interviewed by CNET News and was asked whether there will be a usage meter provided by Comcast.
“There are numerous free or fee-based meters that are widely available on the Internet to anyone who wants one,” Douglas said. This could mean various things for the Internet as we currently know it. Comcast stressed that the bandwidth cap, two to three gigabytes, is far above the median monthly usage for its customers.
For these types of users, the limit may provide speedier Internet service.
On the other hand, fears have arisen that if such a system succeeds for this one company, the others will quickly follow suit, which may lead to a quick race to the bottom; the cap may be increasingly lowered alongside soaring prices. Other companies have already been testing this type of system such as Time Warner and Cox Communications; both have experimented with caps ranging from 5 to 75 GB per month.
Another set of problems with this type of limited access system stems from the increasingly high bandwidth content on the Internet and other home entertainment systems.
With the introduction of various file sharing applications, broadband telephone service, online gaming and video/audio streaming sites such as our cherished YouTube, these types of programs use large amounts of bandwidth that ISPs have not had to deal with in previous years.
Bandwidth limits are also posing a problem to Internet content producers who upload large amounts of bandwidth-consuming audio and video, from which many of us get highly valued entertainment and information – at least those of us seeking refuge from the predominant reality TV and FOX’s “Breaking News” stories. With the increase in wireless Internet access, users will have more pressure securing their connection from mooching neighbors who could easily run you over your monthly allowance of gigabytes, not to mention keeping closer watch on your own household’s usage. Although shocking to some of us, bandwidth caps are not new, as many other nations have had this type of system for years. Some areas, in the U.S. and abroad, have a limited number of choices regarding who to purchase Internet service from, which brings up the topic of healthy market competition.
Many are pushing for legislation that prohibits states from issuing exclusive contracts to certain companies, which would allow them to charge excessive prices since they would be the only choice. People are also talking of Comcast boycotts to discourage the enforcement of the cap.
It has also been mentioned that this is being done by the ISPs to combat the popular switch over from traditional TV and phone systems to the Internet, which can perform both of those functions and at typically lower costs.
Whatever the reasoning may be, it is clear that we must keep a close watch as this story progresses. As students and intellectuals of the 21st century, the Internet has become our source of knowledge, communication and entertainment.
We must ensure our right to quality Internet and not allow ISPs to slowly chip away at it with lowered standards and higher costs, when it is currently something we enjoy limitlessly. I encourage you to inform yourselves on this subject, as it could be one that affects your Internet use significantly.
If these large ISP’s become aware of the wide range of people who are concerned with this new policy enforcement, they will be much less likely to try to do anything that will cause large stir of discontent.
So be aware and be proactive. It’s our way of life, and we have to protect it.
Comments (1)
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Joseph Marhee
Do you realize how much 250GB worth of bandwidth is? Unless you're illegally downloading, or a frequent iTunes user (very, very frequent; whole seasons of TV Shows per day frequent) then there's no way you could meet that quota. At any rate, the argument is moot because there is already an imposed limit to bandwidth based upon your ISP's service package, your computers ability to load data, and other such variables, but in any case, the argument that the publicized limit will hinder liberties is asinine; it's like saying "You live comfortably on $50 per day, but I'm going to limit you at $1 Million per day, otherwise you won't be able to spend anymore than that in a given day."
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