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Time for some EU-wide regulation here! Should not be legal to charge your customers depending on what content they download, with their connection. When you ren

Time for some EU-wide regulation here! Should not be legal to charge your customers depending on what content they download, with their connection. When you rent a X mbit line you should get that and nothing less.

tjoff 15y ago
You never get an "x mbit" slot on any network regardless of whether it is wired or not (as a regular customer) - thus you always get less than that. Also, the main purpose of a mobile network is to be able to make calls. Thus calls must have a priority (something that probably will get (since people are beginning to solely rely on their cellphone for all calls (including emergency calls)), if it isn't already, mandated by law). And regardless, the service providers must recoup their costs somehow. Since voice by itself isn't high-bandwidth paying only for the bandwidth would make data plans much more expensive, is that preferable? While the notion of a completely content-agnostic network is neat wireless networks have much tougher constraints on them and can easily be overloaded, in practice you must have priorities and somehow you must pay for those priorities.
- ojilles 15y ago
  "Also, the main purpose of a mobile network is to be able to make calls." That is debatable, and up to your customers :-)
  - oellegaard 15y ago
    Actually its uncommon that I call/text on the mobile network, however, I'm always online and use the services I have there - e.g. iMessage or email. I think mobile carriers should realize this and start creating subscriptions for it - they can try to make obscure rules for using their network, but in the end people will use it in the way they find it convenient.
    - tjoff 15y ago
      Although I very seldom make calls (or receive them) and use the data plan extensively I still consider phone calls the main purpose of a mobile network, even though the ratio of calls and data usage are probably less than 1% for calls. Why? Because when trying to get hold of someone calling/texting them is the, by far, most effective way imaginable. The same goes for being contacted of course. I can't mail even an tech-savvy person and expect him to automatically receive that in his phone, especially if he is on a vacation. The phone is the last thing you turn off. There is no equivalent technology as commonly used as a cellphone. Mail and perhaps facebook are probably the most successful ways to contact a person on the internet but it is frustratingly inferior to a phone call or text message when there haven't been an established contact earlier and a quick response time is valued. That alone makes the primary purpose of the mobile network to server calls and text messages in my eyes. And that is even without taking into consideration the case of emergencies - and that use case alone is important enough to create laws in order to protect and ensure quality. So even though the last month I probably had an all time low of call-time (where I think I talked for about 15 minutes in total (outgoing and in going)) I still view my data plan as an accessory and that the main purpose of the mobile network is calls and texts. And I'm having trouble imagining that this will change any time soon, regardless of how often people actually make phone calls.
      - ojilles 15y ago
        My phone behaviour is the same as yours (<30 min call time/month; lots of data usage). I see your point. My opinion is slightly different: turn off data connection and I'll leave my phone home; turn off voice and I'll happily tote the phone around and use it all day. So for me, voice is the accessory. What you describe is how to reach other people (as necessitated by them), not your own behaviour.
- stephengillie 15y ago
  You make a great point: Mobile carriers could differentiate themselves from other wireless providers (such as Clearwire in the US) or from each other, by accelerating VOIP traffic instead of degrading it. HTTP degradation could automatically adjust on an overloaded node to make room for VOIP.

tjoff 15y ago

You never get an "x mbit" slot on any network regardless of whether it is wired or not (as a regular customer) - thus you always get less than that. Also, the main purpose of a mobile network is to be able to make calls. Thus calls must have a priority (something that probably will get (since people are beginning to solely rely on their cellphone for all calls (including emergency calls)), if it isn't already, mandated by law). And regardless, the service providers must recoup their costs somehow. Since voice by itself isn't high-bandwidth paying only for the bandwidth would make data plans much more expensive, is that preferable? While the notion of a completely content-agnostic network is neat wireless networks have much tougher constraints on them and can easily be overloaded, in practice you must have priorities and somehow you must pay for those priorities.

ojilles 15y ago
"Also, the main purpose of a mobile network is to be able to make calls." That is debatable, and up to your customers :-)
- oellegaard 15y ago
  Actually its uncommon that I call/text on the mobile network, however, I'm always online and use the services I have there - e.g. iMessage or email. I think mobile carriers should realize this and start creating subscriptions for it - they can try to make obscure rules for using their network, but in the end people will use it in the way they find it convenient.
  - tjoff 15y ago
    Although I very seldom make calls (or receive them) and use the data plan extensively I still consider phone calls the main purpose of a mobile network, even though the ratio of calls and data usage are probably less than 1% for calls. Why? Because when trying to get hold of someone calling/texting them is the, by far, most effective way imaginable. The same goes for being contacted of course. I can't mail even an tech-savvy person and expect him to automatically receive that in his phone, especially if he is on a vacation. The phone is the last thing you turn off. There is no equivalent technology as commonly used as a cellphone. Mail and perhaps facebook are probably the most successful ways to contact a person on the internet but it is frustratingly inferior to a phone call or text message when there haven't been an established contact earlier and a quick response time is valued. That alone makes the primary purpose of the mobile network to server calls and text messages in my eyes. And that is even without taking into consideration the case of emergencies - and that use case alone is important enough to create laws in order to protect and ensure quality. So even though the last month I probably had an all time low of call-time (where I think I talked for about 15 minutes in total (outgoing and in going)) I still view my data plan as an accessory and that the main purpose of the mobile network is calls and texts. And I'm having trouble imagining that this will change any time soon, regardless of how often people actually make phone calls.
    - ojilles 15y ago
      My phone behaviour is the same as yours (<30 min call time/month; lots of data usage). I see your point. My opinion is slightly different: turn off data connection and I'll leave my phone home; turn off voice and I'll happily tote the phone around and use it all day. So for me, voice is the accessory. What you describe is how to reach other people (as necessitated by them), not your own behaviour.
stephengillie 15y ago
You make a great point: Mobile carriers could differentiate themselves from other wireless providers (such as Clearwire in the US) or from each other, by accelerating VOIP traffic instead of degrading it. HTTP degradation could automatically adjust on an overloaded node to make room for VOIP.