[2418] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Billing systems
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (drw@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU)
Wed Feb 26 18:08:25 1992
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 92 17:59:23 EST
From: drw@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <3578524@mtsg.ubc.ca> "Mike.Patterson@mtsg.ubc.ca"
From: Mike.Patterson@mtsg.ubc.ca
If the cost of some particular link is usage-sensitive then please
devise a short-term expedient for dealing with that problem.
The trouble is that as the Internet gets denser, more and more costs
becomes usage-sensitive. The only part of the net that is truly
flat-rate for a user is the line from him to the first router. The
"interior" parts of the net are used in proportion to the amount of
data sent, not in porportion to the bandwidth of the lines to the
users.
Of course, if everybody uses their links to nearly full capacity for
about the same length of time each day, usage-charging produces about
the same charges as flat-rate. But if someone wants to use their link
for high-bandwidth communication for only a few minutes in the average
day, he will be dramatically overcharged.
After all, long-distance phone usage isn't flat rate, is it?
Dale Worley Dept. of Math., MIT drw@math.mit.edu
