Should broadband be charged on a sliding scale?

GunJack

How about keeping the current charging structure, but invest in the network in a better way ??

The FTTC project should be made to start with the furthest cabs from the exchanges and then work inwards. That way those people furthest from the exchanges (and therefore on the worst speeds) would benefit first and get their speeds improved, while those closer in getting a reasonable speed on a conventional line wait till last ??

Surely that would be a fairer way of distributing broadband than sliding scale charging ??

esuhl

Should broadband be charged on a sliding scale?

No... because (although it should make for a fairer system) it is hard to accurately determine the speed of your connection, so ISPs would have a strong motivation for over-stating this, and would end up charging more on average.

Besides... I get about 7Mb/s on an 8Mb/s line anyway

ComplexP

esuhl wrote: »

No... because (although it should make for a fairer system) it is hard to accurately determine the speed of your connection, so ISPs would have a strong motivation for over-stating this, and would end up charging more on average.

Besides... I get about 7Mb/s on an 8Mb/s line anyway

The ISPs can monitor your throughput profile easily enough. If it started dropping for any reason it would provide extra motivation for them to try to track down any potential faults quickly

ComplexP

GunJack wrote: »

How about keeping the current charging structure, but invest in the network in a better way ??

The FTTC project should be made to start with the furthest cabs from the exchanges and then work inwards. That way those people furthest from the exchanges (and therefore on the worst speeds) would benefit first and get their speeds improved, while those closer in getting a reasonable speed on a conventional line wait till last ??

Surely that would be a fairer way of distributing broadband than sliding scale charging ??

No arguments here. If FTTC came to my town my throughput speed would jump from 2.5MBits to something like 15MBits.

Fifer

Lokolo wrote: »

No because if you silly enough to go with broadband on a BT line where that happens then you deserve it.

Silly? What option do some of us have? Some areas of the UK don't even have broadband via BT lines. Many don't have an option other than BT.

elvch01

In South Arica, many BB packages have a usage cap (e.g. 15Gb/month) after which you are thrown off. Its a simple phone call to get reconnected, but pay per Gb thereafter. I'm on vacation in Cape Town & used my 15Gb in one week sharing out my holiday snaps & videos. I'm currently paying about £9/Gb for the extra. This way of charging seems reasonable in an environment where bandwidth availability is limited

spud17

I'm waiting to see the first house advertised,

Close to schools, shops, local amenities and 6.5mbit broadband.

oldagetraveller

Lokolo wrote: »

No because if you silly enough to go with broadband on a BT line where that happens then you deserve it.

IMO anyway!

O2 use a BT line and up the speed to make it ok.
Other than that Virgin are good.

---

Although I also do believe broadband should be at a set rate, not an upto rate!

Yes, us silly people, by virtue of where we live don't have any other option than to use a BT line and no LLU(e.g. O2) at local exchange. Except mobile broadband of course.
So before engaging the gob try putting the brain into gear first!
Of course we can all move, would that be a preferred option.
Your signature would indicate you're a student and of a certain age? Say no more!

john_s_2

spud17 wrote: »

I'm waiting to see the first house advertised,

Close to schools, shops, local amenities and 6.5mbit broadband.

It was a hunch but a quick Google yielded (for rent):

"we offer Free up to 8 Mb Broadband in every bedroom"

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/estate-agents/agent/Abbey-Rentals/Chester-56258.html

"*Broadband Included (Up to 2 MB) "

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-26143574.html

So my hunch seems to have some foundation. Given the speeds are included then this is presumably taken into account when the landlord is setting the rent.

EDIT: I also said IF the speed of the broadband is worth anything. Years ago (mid 90s) I tried selling my flat, which has off-street parking. I asked the estate agent if this was worth anything and he said it wasn't (to our area at least). Nowadays any property for sale in my area mentions off-street parking if it has it.

EDIT2: And when I was at school in the early 80s I remember my Economics teacher telling us that houses near schools had LOWER values because of the disruption of hundreds of kids traipsing past twice a day. Different kettle of fish these days.

Marty_J

But they're the highly idealised "up to" speeds. It's hardly the same as advertising the proximity to local amenities.

No one advertises their house as "possibly close to the shops".