Democracy & Technology Blog 1,120 gpbs = $560 per mo. Who’s gonna pay?
Here is one estimate of the cost to the consumer of upgrading the Internet to handle video and high-definition video if the cost is borne primarily by consumers. Which is what would happen under net neutrality regulation.
The real issue is where will the big bucks come from to create an Internet capable of handling the services now envisioned, let alone those not yet dreamed up. BellSouth’s Chief Architect Henry Kafka told an audience in March that a typical broadband user today consumes about two gigabytes of data a month, at a network cost of $1. Once TV has gone high-definition and on-demand, a typical user will consume about 1,120 gigabytes a month at a cost of $560 (that’s in addition to the administrative, sales and service costs that today make up the lion’s share of the user’s bill) (emphasis added). “Clearly that’s not what the average user is going to pay per month for their video service,” Mr. Kafka said. “That’s why we need help.”
The full column, by Holman W. Jenkins, is here.