Re: [gaia] What if all phones were always on the Internet?

Thanks Steve,

You did a nice job of explaining this model that I’ve also been quietly
promoting.  I have two comments:

1) I think backhaul is a serious limiting factor here in some remote areas.
If the nearest tower is serviced by satellite or any of the slowish
configurations of terrestrial microwave, paying customers might already be
getting less than full 2G. That was certainly the case in some of the
places I lived. I think it is reasonable to offer 2G for free when 3G is in
place (or 2G with a high-speed terrestrial wireless or fiber backhaul).
This would also make it obvious to users and regulators which locations
need backhaul upgrades.

2) The approach of bandwidth limiting instead of volume limiting is both
more valuable for the end user (a little bit of data every day is worth
more than one big burst at the beginning of the month) and easier to
implement for the mobile network operator (when a free Internet user roams
the infrastructure does not need to keep track of total usage).

Thanks,

-rohan

On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 6:36 AM, Steve Song <stevesong@nsrc.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Following on some of the previous discussion about the non-linear
> relationship between Internet speed and value to the consumer; and
> reflecting on some of the discussions on zero-rating at the IGF; and
> thinking further about the PAYG model that enabled the dramatic growth of
> mobile telephony in emerging markets, I came to the conclusion that a
> low-bitrate, always-on Internet for all mobile phones would benefit
> everyone.
>
> https://manypossibilities.net/2015/11/zero-rating-a-modest-proposal/
>
> Would love to have the idea critiqued (gently).
>
> Thanks... Steve Song
>
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