As I think about "net neutrality", it seems that a lot of the debate comes down to how we price bandwidth. But I want to make sure that I understand how bandwidth is currently priced so that I understand the costs involved.
My understanding: On the internet, one pays bandwidth costs in order to send data to a destination across different company's networks. One pays to send and charges to receive. However, the final hop (e.g. to the end user's ISP) does not charge money to receive data. e.g. Comcast does not charge Google money to reach its users, but intermediaries between the two do charge money in order to interconnect their networks.
Or does the final hop charge money to receive? If so, what keeps services on the edge of the network from charging high bandwidth fees in an internet version of the issue with some rural telephone operators profiting from high connect fees: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10372106-265.html
My understanding: On the internet, one pays bandwidth costs in order to send data to a destination across different company's networks. One pays to send and charges to receive. However, the final hop (e.g. to the end user's ISP) does not charge money to receive data. e.g. Comcast does not charge Google money to reach its users, but intermediaries between the two do charge money in order to interconnect their networks.
Or does the final hop charge money to receive? If so, what keeps services on the edge of the network from charging high bandwidth fees in an internet version of the issue with some rural telephone operators profiting from high connect fees: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10372106-265.html
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