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Old 02-01-2011, 11:27 AM   #325
GreenTeaFrapp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon View Post
GreenTeaFrapp good point, equal access to the customer should be a given since creating new routes of equal access is difficult (though not impossible, there are wireless ISPs).
But the same issue exists even with wireless ISPs; the cost to enter is prohibitive and there's really no need to have dozens of different sets of infrastructure.


Quote:
Why do they have to be fair about it? Shouldn't companies be allowed to price themselves out of existence? Fairness comes out of competition, and if this market can't have competition, then fairness has to be imposed, but companies don't have to be fair, they have to maximize shareholder profits.



Why should a company be obligated to provide what you expect?

How about natural gas? Do you expect to pay a flat rate and get as much as you want?
The difference is that natural gas is a fixed good that has to be paid for by your provider while bandwidth is like a road. Regardless of whether you drive on a road for 1 km or 100 km, the costs to the provider will be relatively similar.

Quote:
What about your cell phone, do you pay $40 and expect a big enough minute pack that you don't have to think about it?

Lets look at cell phone plans for a minute.

Fido has their CityFido plan, 2,000 minutes for $35. That's 1.75 cents per minute. You have your base rate, $35, and you have your cap, 2,000 minutes. But what if you go over? Then you're charged 35 cents per minute! That's 20 times the base rate! With Shaw, you get 60GB for $37, that's 61 cents per GB. If you go over, you pay $2 per GB, that's only 3 times the base rate. So Shaw's cap is "less fair" but their overage rate is "more fair". And that's not counting that you can buy bandwidth in buckets at as low as 20 cents a GB, less than the per GB cost of the initial plan.
Since the cellphone companies are owned by the same companies looking for UBB, I don't think looking at their pricing strategy is a good example.
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