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The cost of transferring more data on current infrastructure is negligible. However, ISPs have a maximum capacity that's well below their number of users multip
by bajsejohannes 10y ago
The cost of transferring more data on current infrastructure is negligible. However, ISPs have a maximum capacity that's well below their number of users multiplied by the user's maximum bandwidth. They're just making a bet that not everyone will use all their bandwidth most of the time. At some point, average utilization goes up, and they have to buy more infrastructure to handle it, which is what costs money.
- wmf 10y agoOnly peak time (e.g. 8 PM) utilization matters and caps generally don't reduce it. It's definitely true that increased peak usage requires ISPs to upgrade their networks, but their pricing is almost totally disconnected from costs.