[aklug] Re: Last days of unlimited?

From: Arthur Corliss <acorliss@nevaeh-linux.org>
Date: Mon Jun 21 2010 - 13:59:46 AKDT

On Mon, 21 Jun 2010, Tim Gibney wrote:

> Isn't deregulation great?
> Someone here did a traceroute a few weeks ago from an MTA network and guess
> what ... GCI is their backbone.
>
> Likely GCI arm twisted them to throw them out of business or exploited the
> fact that they own the backbone and could charge whatever they want for
> usage. It is no different than AT&T and Verizon. How many mom and pop ISPs
> are left outside of Alaska? None. They big boys threw them out as soon as
> they were deregulated. Now AT&T is capping as well as soon as the
> competition was eliminated.
>
> GCI was the one who invested in the lines because no one wanted to invest in
> Alaska so they win. You bet they want to oay $500 a month for Netlfix as
> most people are stupid and would rather pay than complain or get politically
> involved. We could take a lesson from Asia and Europe who laugh at this
> situation because of regulation. You can get a whole fiber connection for
> $30 a month.

Maybe I'm naive, but this seems a bit over the top. From my perspective
deregulation has nothing to do with it. The reality is that technology (and
applications) have progressed to the point where devices are not only
always-on, always-attached, but actively consuming data on a regular basis.
The basic expection of broadband as a minimum has also fostered a
media-rich/bandwidth-intensive delivery system.

In other words, what what's causing all this is a technology and cultural
shift. People have to always have the lastest RSS feeds available, even if
they only glance at it twice a day. They want their constant flow of
communication (twitter, IM, etc.) and instant availability of media
(youtube, etc.).

This isn't rocket science, I saw the same thing when computers started
having MBs of RAM available. Developers started going hog wide, leveraging
RAD systems that made development quick, but less efficient use of
resources.

End sum: the goldfish grows to the size of the bowl. No big surprise
there.

Now, couple *that* with a business model that was based on the traditional
oversubscription telco business plan, and you'll see that the math simply
won't work. This is a collision that has been long coming, and we'll need
to make adjustments to find something more sustainable. Running a network
for mass consumers is neither simple or cheap.

As for what's happening in Asia, I couldn't care less. The reality from
everything I've read is that they haven't achieved economies of scale, but
instead have gotten massive government subsidies by reclassifying Internet
access as an essential service. Something I think is ridiculous on multiple
levels.

Sorry, but if your "netopia" requires more government and more regulation,
you can keep it.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Mon Jun 21 13:59:54 2010

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