You're right, the major cost isn't the bandwidth (at least the in the U.S.), but the current technologies (cable modem, DSL, and wireless) are thoroughly asymmetric, and high upstreams kill the performance of the first and third. In the shorter-term, it's cheaper to find some way to minimize upstream so that everyone has decent performance that do the expensive field world to split the shared medium (via deeper fiber, more radios, overlaying frequencies, etc).
Long-term, fiber avoids the upstream performance issues. Frank -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alex Rubenstein Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 2:02 PM To: Taran Rampersad; nanog@merit.edu Subject: RE: An Attempt at Economically Rational Pricing: Time Warner Trial <snip> Am I the only one here who thinks that the major portion of the cost of having a customer is *not* the bandwidth they use?
