We offer internet based on usage, and there are levels. We don't quite do "unlimited" but offer tariffs that should, for most home users, be the same, 1TB download a month.
I have equated this to water supply in some ways. One can buy water metered or unmetered.
So this raised a whole load of moral issues.
If I buy unmetered water, can I, morally, run the taps all day pissing water down the drain?
If I but metered water, paying for what I use, can I, morally, run the taps all day pissing water down the drain?
Do either of these relate to broadband usage? That is the question...
I do think water, electricity, gas, etc, are all very similar in many ways to internet access, but in some ways not. They all relate to shared resources, and to some extent only work because people share reasonably.
If everyone ran their taps, metered or unmetered, all day, then water supply would break. No way it has capacity for that even if charging for the water. The same is true of internet access. It only works because most people are "reasonable".
So should a supplier aim to curb the usage of metered and unmetered customers that have intent to piss water down the drain?
Internet is complicated. Usage is growing, and what may previously have been excessive is now normal. I think it is all down to intent.
So, if I have streaming TV on, "in the background", on my TV at home, is that abuse? Is it "pissing water down the drain"? I suspect not as no real intent to waste, just the way the technology is. Technology works like that now.
What if I have paid for 1TB a month, and used only 300GB. If I deliberately download 700GB to throw it away solely because it is "what I have paid for", is that abuse? My view is yes, sorry. Use what you want and need - do not use "just because" or out of spite somehow.
Just like water, if we get this wrong, it all falls apart.
Comments?
