[citation][nom]sndcj1[/nom]Let me make sure I'm clear on your suggestion, you are OK with the company saying "1000 people per tower, each tower has a 100 megabit link to the network, so we cap everyone at 100kb" or "We only have 2000 gb of total network backbone, we have 40 million subscribers who use data, so we cap them all at 50kb". I think I prefer the option of the highest possible at the moment, and those that use EXTREME amounts of data on a MOBILE device, get capped as they go over.[/citation]
What he is saying is that it doesn't matter how much data any single person ever downloads. Virgin Mobile (and every other ISP) pays for bandwidth, that is, how much data can be transferred at any given time. If you have a 100mbps connection, you can sustain 100mbps of data transfer. Doesn't matter if you have 1000 people all checking their email or 10 people all streaming off Netflix, that 100mbps is the hard-limit, for any given moment in time.
Therefore, during a busy part of the day, someone checking their email is just as guilty of causing congestion as someone downloading a movie. EVERYONE who uses a link is guilty of slowing that link down. Virgin mobile (and every other ISP) is punishing people who simply choose to use that connection more often then others.
Think about it this way, what if you download your 5GB of data solely between the hours of 12AM and 6AM? I'm willing to bet your data usage in no way affected the network, because who else is using it at that time? However, lets say some office lets out at 5PM on the dot, and at that time, all 1000 of their employees check their email. That's going to cause more network congestion than any single downloader could ever do. Yet, its the night-owl downloader who will be punished, not the habitual email checkers.
Think about a highway. The posted speed limit might be 55, but during rush hour, you're lucky to go 30. But EVERYONE is going 30. Be it the person in that fancy sportscar or that semi-truck in the next lane. Now, by saying someone can only download 5GB before being throttled is like saying someone can only travel 500 miles before they stop driving for the month. Guess what, every day, thousands of short-distance commuters will still be clogging the highways at peak times. You won't notice a change because, guess what, most people who regular drive long distances (like trucking companies) tend to AVOID rush hour. But companies that ship overnight to avoid rush-hour congestion are still going to be punished by the new mileage limit, even though they never once got stuck in a traffic jam. That's how pointless a blind data cap is.
As for a solution, I propose a sliding speed-limit. When I lived in Michigan we had Comcast cable internet with PowerBoost. The Powerboost (according to their fine print) would allow burst speeds of up to 20mbps. However, this was only for a couple seconds (so that a webpage or email would load very quickly). For sustained downloads, the speed would drop back to 12/8/6 whatever mbps.
If wireless companies did this, and told you they were doing it, I wouldn't really have a problem. If the connection lasts too long, throttle it back so it doesn't consume all the resources. Based on the time of day, adjust how much throttling is performed. During business hours, a sustained connection might be allowed 10% of max, but over night, it might be allowed 20% or more. It's not perfect, but at least no one is unfairly punished.
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