Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Roadmap
- 1 What makes CDMA work for my smartphone?
- 2 How does Google sell ad spaces?
- 3 How does Google rank webpages?
- 4 How does Netflix recommend movies?
- 5 When can I trust an average rating on Amazon?
- 6 Why does Wikipedia even work?
- 7 How do I viralize a YouTube video and tip a Groupon deal?
- 8 How do I influence people on Facebook and Twitter?
- 9 Can I really reach anyone in six steps?
- 10 Does the Internet have an Achilles' heel?
- 11 Why do AT&T and Verizon Wireless charge me $10 a GB?
- 12 How can I pay less for each GB?
- 13 How does traffic get through the Internet?
- 14 Why doesn't the Internet collapse under congestion?
- 15 How can Skype and Bit Torrent be free?
- 16 What's inside the cloud of iCloud?
- 17 IPTV and Netflix: How can the Internet support video?
- 18 Why is WiFi faster at home than at a hotspot?
- 19 Why am I getting only a few % of the advertised 4G speed?
- 20 Is it fair that my neighbor's iPad downloads faster?
- Index
- Notes
12 - How can I pay less for each GB?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Roadmap
- 1 What makes CDMA work for my smartphone?
- 2 How does Google sell ad spaces?
- 3 How does Google rank webpages?
- 4 How does Netflix recommend movies?
- 5 When can I trust an average rating on Amazon?
- 6 Why does Wikipedia even work?
- 7 How do I viralize a YouTube video and tip a Groupon deal?
- 8 How do I influence people on Facebook and Twitter?
- 9 Can I really reach anyone in six steps?
- 10 Does the Internet have an Achilles' heel?
- 11 Why do AT&T and Verizon Wireless charge me $10 a GB?
- 12 How can I pay less for each GB?
- 13 How does traffic get through the Internet?
- 14 Why doesn't the Internet collapse under congestion?
- 15 How can Skype and Bit Torrent be free?
- 16 What's inside the cloud of iCloud?
- 17 IPTV and Netflix: How can the Internet support video?
- 18 Why is WiFi faster at home than at a hotspot?
- 19 Why am I getting only a few % of the advertised 4G speed?
- 20 Is it fair that my neighbor's iPad downloads faster?
- Index
- Notes
Summary
A Short Answer
ISPs charging consumers on the basis of usage is just one corner of the overall landscape of Internet economics. We will pick consumers' monthly bills to focus on in this chapter, but there are many other key questions.
The formation of the Internet is driven in part by economic considerations. Different ISPs form peering and transit relationships that are based on business and political decisions as much as on technical ones.
The invention, adoption, and failure of Internet technologies are driven by the economics of vendor competition and consumer adoption.
The investment of network infrastructure, from purchasing wireless licensed spectrum to deploying triple-play broadband access, is driven by the economics of capital expenditure, operational expenditure, and returns on investment.
The economics of the Internet are interesting because the technology-economics interactions are bidirectional: economic forces shape the evolution of technology, while disruptive technologies can rewrite the balance of economic equations. This field is also challenging to study because of the lack of publicly available data on ISPs' cost structures and the difficulty of collecting well calibrated consumer data.
Smart data pricing
There is a rapidly growing research field and industry practice on network access pricing. What we described on usage pricing in the last chapter, in the form of tiered and then metered/throttled plans, is just a starter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Networked Life20 Questions and Answers, pp. 256 - 276Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012