topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Tuesday October 15, 2024, 7:39 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Author Topic: COVID-19 might have just killed ISP data caps  (Read 3013 times)

Edvard

  • Coding Snacks Author
  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,021
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
COVID-19 might have just killed ISP data caps
« on: March 22, 2020, 01:27 PM »
Raise your hand if you knew data caps were a hoax all along...

As COVID-19 leaves people working from home, ISPs are lifting limitations on data consumption. That’s good—and it might turn out to be permanent.


Shades

  • Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 2,931
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: COVID-19 might have just killed ISP data caps
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2020, 03:06 PM »
Data caps is just there for the ISP to pick the customer even more clean. The equipment to handle the traffic generated by customers is already there at the ISP and costs practically as much when it is running or not. Caps also require more administration on the customer's end but mainly on the ISP's end.

Data caps used to be a thing in the Netherlands too, around 1990. Haven't heard of this being a thing since 2000 in the Netherlands. Here in PY data caps are only a thing with people that buy internet for their phone. For domestic connections, no data caps in any shape or form. Connection quality and/or reliability in PY isn't so great, but has made pretty big strides since 2005. And there is a big push for domestic fiber connections going on. As most houses do not have a coax cable connection anyway, it is almost as easy to roll out fiber as it is to roll out coax. A 20MBit/sec fiber connection (internet-only, no TV or phone plan) is about 10 USD monthly.

Even though prices are very acceptable for the customer, ISP's make more per connection. much more people want and commit to contracts with the ISP, because no data cap head-ache, which they know only all too well, because of their phones. The same happened in the Netherlands all those years ago, the same is happening here in Paraguay as well.

The US would not be any different, but I get the impression that management layers at ISP's do not want to let their claws release the concept of data caps.


Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,759
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: COVID-19 might have just killed ISP data caps
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2020, 06:47 PM »
My mobile service provider (Mint Mobile) is offering unlimited data for free for 3 months. Kind of. You buy it and then it is reimbursed the next day or something like that.