In principle, getting rid of net neutrality seems like a bad thing which favors ISPs. ISPs like comcast could force all media providers to pay more or throttle them. ISPs could continue to increase the price paid for intrenet access lot more than inflation.
Netflix just raised prices and probably it is to offset what they pay to ISPs.
Ultimately consumer prices are going up for internet access.
Most of the ISPs in the US and perhaps the rest of the world are really either Telcos or Cable providers with the Satellite TV companies trying to get the rural market.
As more and more people has smart phones and tablets the demand for amount of data and bandwidth has increased and video continues to be the biggest hog.
So, what is the solution?
Smart phones and tablets have become commodities. Most of the data used is
at home. Soon each individual user is likely to add more devices to the existing list of Phone, Tablet, game system, Media player. Internet connected home automation and security also need internet. Security video cameras help fight crime and keep kids and pets safer. Cellular network has a limit due to available spectrum and spectral efficiency. Wired internet can be scaled. In the long run, Fiber is more scalable than coaxial cable. Now that we have moved to digital cable, the next logical step is packetized TV over internet. Dish network has done a decent job of providing international channels over internet. Netflix has become a way of watching video over internet. I still see room for Satellite for remote areas even for internet.
What if internet is also delivered like electricity? Bandwidth limit is like the limit of circuit breaker. ISPs can become like utility companies because it is expensive to have multiple wires coming to each neighborhood. The internet access prices are also tiered like utility rates. Just like we can have solar, we are allowed to have Satellite for internet to keep the competition alive.
Just like there is energystar for lowering energy use, we can have "bandstar" for lowering bandwidth. High efficiency codes care here today to enable 4k video. ISPs like comcast charge about $60 a month and allow "unlimited" internet up to 300GB and then send warnings or throttle. That is 20cents per Gigabyte. They are experimenting with new rates
http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/exp-fdo-data-plan
which can charge as much as $1 per Gigabyte. That is gouging.
A netflix 720p video can consume 1GByte per hr. Average TV use in the house is
5hrs. Average household has 2.5 people. That means average hours of TV watched is 12.5hrs. That is 375hrs a month or 375GB at 720p. Assume high efficiency codec will cancel out higher definition content. Other than video, all other internet use is going to be probably 5GB per person per month for computer, tablet and smartphone use. The total is 400GB for average household.
How do we pay for all this?
My cable + internet bill is $150 a month now. Then I pay $8 for Netflix.
If the price is 20cents per GB and I use 400GB per month, that is $80.
Of the hundreds of channels I get, like most people my household watches
at most 10 channels. Bundles are the culprit. I am paying $30 a month for 30
channels of foreign programming on Dishworld over internet. That is $1 per channel per month. No one needs 300 channels for $90 a month. Let the
garbage channels die if people are not interested.
Higher quality video costs more. More channels cost more. Let people choose.
Since there is minimum cost for delivering internet and low income people, disabled and elderly do need internet, there needs to be a low cost alternative.
That can be cellular data which is more reliable in the even of power outage anyway.
In the long run, the price per GB needs to go down to tiers like utility.
What if the tiers were?
$20 gets you 50GB per month at 40cents per GB. That should help low income people, disabled and elderly. They can pay $20 to get 20 channels of lower bandwidth TV.
After that $20 gets 100GB and 10cents per GB. The max bandwidth limit
should be set and changed only if there is a capacity constraint on the backbone.
ISPs can partner with content providers like netflix and offer promos. More Ads implies lower price like the free Apps on the phone with Ads. Let the free market flourish. End of monopoly by ISPs and content providers.
Internet to home should be regulated like utilities.
