Better services. hmmmm.... I like the service I get here. But I think it would be great to have high speed service when I take out the RV. Would love a satellite internet that humms. I did hear about a new internet service for travelers at evesurf.com
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The Net Meter Is Running
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There is, however, a Net-neutrality angle to the Time Warner Cable experiment. As its name implies, this operation's main interest is cable television. An increasingly important component of that business is distributing video on demand. TW's competitors in that arena are Internet companies that intend to do the same thing. The Time Warner plan tilts the field in its own favor. Let's say I want to watch the indie film "Waitress." I may have the choice to order it on my cable box or rent it from iTunes. Each might cost me $3. But if I'm metered, renting it from iTunes might mean that I exceed my monthly limit, perhaps incurring a penalty that's more than renting the movie.
A more profound problem with the metering scheme, however, involves not corporate competition but international competition. Here in America, where the Internet was born, we pay higher prices (seven times what they pay in Korea) for slower speeds (Japan's users surf 13 times faster). Though President Bush promised that all citizens could get affordable broadband by 2007, tens of millions are still stuck with dial-up. Fast, cheap, abundant broadband is a fantastic economic accelerator, enabling breakout businesses and kick-starting new industries. Unless we move quickly, these will spring from foreign soil. Instead of testing systems that discourage people from vigorously using our overpriced, underpowered systems, government and industry should be working overtime to figure out how to get faster service for less money, and make sure that all citizens, no matter where they live, have affordable access to the high-speed Net. Maybe then we'll get out of 24th place.
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