Verizon wants metered internet

As reported by slashdot Verizon CEO Dick Lynch has said that ‘We’re going to have to consider pricing structures that allow us to sell packages of bytes, and at the end of the day the concept of a flat-rate infinitely expandable service is unachievable’

This kind of thinking is unacceptable, so I wrote them a letter and I’ll share it with you.

If you feel strongly about this, let Verizon know how you’ll spend your future dollars as well.

Hello. This is a letter for corporate. I recently read about your CEO’s comments on metered internet access. Please inform him that I am a Verizon FIOS fan, but I cannot currently use your product because I live in Vancouver, WA, I did use your product while living in Oregon and I champion your product to all of my friends in other cities/states. However, if he keeps this diatribe up about metered bandwidth and how it is “inevitable,” I will have to inform my friends that their dollars are helping to ruin the internet and that they might want to consider a different product.

Unlimited bandwidth is a necessity for the internet market. If you start metering the internet, you will need all new OS features, for every TCP/IP device that exists. If someone wants to rent a movie from Amazon, for example, they’ll have to be informed that it will cost them another $5 from Verizon to download that content! Or lord knows what other nightmares this will cause.

This is a silly idea and your CEO needs to be smarter and find a better way to make Verizon profitable. If there is a very small % of people using a lot of the bandwidth, then the company can put reduced bandwidth for those that go over some large cap, but you cannot and should not put metered pricing tiers in place; It’ll never work. The network wants to be free and it’ll find a way around your limitations, ultimately hurting your company.

And remember, we consumers know that you sell not just internet access, but also cellular service, television and phone service. We can avoid those products as well.

Sincerely,

Steve