Re: Phew looks like we were lucky
In message <5.1.0.14.0.20020226123309.026f07c0(a)pop3.attica.net.nz>, Mark Foster writes:
From my point of view bandwidth is very cheap now. Of course this is coming from first connecting to the Internet when we were being charged around $600/MB ($0.60 per kilobyte) for (international) traffic. Now I'm paying, what, about $0.20 per megabyte (less in some instances) for international traffic.
My problem with this is that you pay $0.20/meg for *traffic* regardless of its target.
I don't know what the case is with Jetstart, etc, as I've never used them (at least in a context where I was paying the bill). The "Paradise.Net model" I mentioned earlier charges 1/10th of the International charge for "local" (national, ie in New Zealand) traffic. This seems to work well for TSNZ, and it works well for me (as an end customer). Most other traffic-based pricing plans I've had over the last 10 years or so have had similar rules (including the ones that I implemented the software for way back when): cheaper rates for more local traffic. If Jetstart doesn't do that (ie charges national and international traffic at the same (high) rate), then yes, I agree, it's discouraging local use, and it's bad. International bandwidth is lots more expensive than national bandwidth (all that ocean all around) to the provider, so in a pass-the-costs-on model it should be more expensive to the consumer too.
Bandwidth has dropped in cost, but we download more, and faster, nowadays.
I could easily get through "as much bandwidth as I can afford" way back then as I could now, if I tried. By no means is it perfect now. And yes, the charges in New Zealand are probably higher than charges overseas by pure exchange rates or whatever. But quite a number of providers overseas (eg, the US) appear to have been going out of business which is, umm, inconvenient for their customers, suggesting they're not entirely profitable charges there. Oh, and there's all that expensive-to-put-bandwidth-over ocean between New Zealand and pretty much anywhere else. That sort of adds to the cost, meaning direct comparisions aren't entirely appropriate. Ewen - To unsubscribe from nznog, send email to majordomo(a)list.waikato.ac.nz where the body of your message reads: unsubscribe nznog
On Tue, Feb 26, 2002 at 12:57:25PM +1300, Ewen McNeill wrote:
By no means is it perfect now. And yes, the charges in New Zealand are probably higher than charges overseas by pure exchange rates or whatever. But quite a number of providers overseas (eg, the US) appear to have been going out of business which is, umm, inconvenient for their customers, suggesting they're not entirely profitable charges there.
This is the key point. People keep wittering on about a flat rate, and seem to be ignoring the outcomes of such - at worst, bankruptcy for your ISP, and at best, significant restrictions on what you can do with that bandwidth. I'd like to pay lower bandwidth charges. I'd like it if petrol were free, too. -- Rodger Donaldson rodgerd(a)diaspora.gen.nz I just had this vision of a young boy cowering in terror, whispering: "I see dumb people" -- Steve VanDevender - To unsubscribe from nznog, send email to majordomo(a)list.waikato.ac.nz where the body of your message reads: unsubscribe nznog
On Wed, 27 Feb 2002, Rodger Donaldson wrote:
This is the key point. People keep wittering on about a flat rate, and seem to be ignoring the outcomes of such - at worst, bankruptcy for your ISP, and at best, significant restrictions on what you can do with that bandwidth.
I think the idea is not free bandwidth, but affordable and predictable charging. I pay $199 plus $20 a month for my Jetstream connection. Telecom gets the $199 and TelstraSaturnParadiseClear twenty bucks, although it is the latter that provides the majority of bandwidth I use. That's only for 1.5GB a month. If that doesn't tell you the JCM is a rip-off and unfair to ISPs, I don't know what will.
I'd like to pay lower bandwidth charges. I'd like it if petrol were free, too.
Fill up before tomorrow... ;-) -- Juha Take off every sig! - To unsubscribe from nznog, send email to majordomo(a)list.waikato.ac.nz where the body of your message reads: unsubscribe nznog
participants (3)
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Ewen McNeill -
Juha Saarinen -
Rodger Donaldson