 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | If you don't what a Gigabyte is then you kind of deserved to be over charged. Seriously I'm tired of having to explain to people what certain "tech" things are even though they have had computers, internet access and cell phones for over a decade. Take some time out and educate yourselves. |
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 funchordsHelloPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA
kudos:6 | said by BF69:then you kind of deserved to be over charged.
Everyone deserves reasonable charges. "Gotcha" capitalism just to bring in big profits is an evil.
said by BF69:Seriously I'm tired of having to explain to people what certain "tech" things are even though they have had computers, internet access and cell phones for over a decade.
If you're having to explain it to them, then someone is asking. Those are, by your definition, are good people trying to become more savvy users. Why are you irritated?
I think this "Most Still Have no Idea What a Gigabyte is" argument, while true, isn't a good enough reason to rail against consumption-based billing. Plenty of people use electricity without knowing what a kWh is and how it affects their bill. I use tap water without comprehending how many glasses I can drink per 100 cubit meters (the unit of measurement on my water bill).
If the rates and overages are fair, and not designed to be "gotchas" intended to trap normal customers doing normal things, then what's the harm? A sign of consumption-based billing going correctly will be that very low users can get very low bills. If that's not happening, then the situation deserves scrutiny.
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Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Cape Cod, MA -- KE1MO
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KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | the main hole in consumption based billing is that I doubt current monthly rates will drop. Even if we went purely billed by the gig I bet internet services would still be 40-60 bucks a month rather than a small access fee+usage like most electric companies do.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to funchords
said by funchords:said by BF69:then you kind of deserved to be over charged.
Everyone deserves reasonable charges. "Gotcha" capitalism just to bring in big profits is an evil. Sure the overages are out of whack. My point is one should know how much data they are using. That's like driving your car without knowing how many MPG it gets or how far you are traveling.
If you're having to explain it to them, then someone is asking. Those are, by your definition, are good people trying to become more savvy users. Why are you irritated? |
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Reviews:
 ·Frontier Communi..
| reply to Kearnstd
said by Kearnstd:a small access fee+usage like most electric companies do.
"Small" access fee? My "access fee" (e.g., base monthly service/meter charges) is nearly equal to my usage charges. $16/mo for electric service + ~$0.10/kWh. I usually use around 200-250kWh a month. The usage fee is nearly half my bill.
Natural Gas service is even worse; $20/mo service fee plus ~$1/therm for usage. In the summer months I'm lucky to use 8 therms (only usage is a gas hot water heater), so the base service fee makes up nearly three quarters of my bill during the summer months.
Even under a purely usage based model there are still base charges for infrastructure maintenance that any company will need to collect. That's why higher minute/data/SMS plans cost less per unit than lower ones. It's called economy of scale. |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Crookshanks:said by Kearnstd:a small access fee+usage like most electric companies do.
"Small" access fee? My "access fee" (e.g., base monthly service/meter charges) is nearly equal to my usage charges. $16/mo for electric service + ~$0.10/kWh. I usually use around 200-250kWh a month. The usage fee is nearly half my bill. no way you only use 250 kW a month. |
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 Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | reply to BF69
said by BF69:That's like driving your car without knowing how many MPG it gets or how far you are traveling. What? You don't buy a car for all the fancy gizmos in it or how it looks? Most people could care less.
"What? It gets 5mi/gal? Who cares. It looks awesome and makes me look like a badass."
The sad thing is.. Most of that is true.
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Bresnan 30M/5M | CenturyLink 5M/896K
MyWS[PnmIIX3@3.3G,8G RAM,500G+1.5T+2T HDDs,Win7]
WifeWS[A64@2G,2G RAM,120G HDD,Win7]
Router[2xP3@1G,768M RAM,18G HDD,Allied Telesyn AT2560FX,2xDigital DE504,Sun X1034A,2xSun X4444A,SMC 8432BTA,OpenBSD] |
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Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
1 edit | reply to BF69
said by BF69:no way you only use 250 kW a month.
You're right, I understated it a little bit; my monthly average going back 12 months is actually 287kWh. You can see on the snippet of my bill that I actually use less than 200kWh a month for nearly half the year. The peak is around 600kWh when I'm running A/C but even that is barely enough to bring my average up over 250kWh. Not everybody lives in a McMansion with central air, hot tub, swimming pool and every room lit up like a Christmas Tree. I'm the proverbial "Grandmother who only reads e-mail" that everybody likes to talk about with regards to my electricity consumption yet I pay the same monthly service charge as the person with the hot tub and swimming pool. How is that fair?
Incidentally, my usage would be even lower if I didn't have a PC running 24/7 at 2.16kWh/day (90 watts x 24 hours), aquarium (roughly 50 watts 24/7 for the heater, filter and light) and if I was willing to part with A/C during the summer months. Hell, just getting rid of the aquarium and only running the PC 8 hours a day would drop my average to less than 250kWh. |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Crookshanks:said by BF69:no way you only use 250 kW a month.
You're right, I understated it a little bit; my monthly average going back 12 months is actually 287kWh. You can see on the snippet of my bill that I actually use less than 200kWh a month for nearly half the year. The peak is around 600kWh when I'm running A/C but even that is barely enough to bring my average up over 250kWh. Not everybody lives in a McMansion with central air, hot tub, swimming pool and every room lit up like a Christmas Tree. I'm the proverbial "Grandmother who only reads e-mail" that everybody likes to talk about with regards to my electricity consumption yet I pay the same monthly service charge as the person with the hot tub and swimming pool. How is that fair? How is it fair that you pay the same service charge? Um because you're connected to the grid just like they are. There is a cost associated with that. Those people with their hot tubs pay higher bills because they use more electricity so they are paying for that excess. You are not getting ripped off. Your lower electrical use is reflected in your lower bills than they have. I'm not seeing the issue. |
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Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
| said by BF69:How is it fair that you pay the same service charge? Um because you're connected to the grid just like they are. There is a cost associated with that. Those people with their hot tubs pay higher bills because they use more electricity so they are paying for that excess. You are not getting ripped off. Your lower electrical use is reflected in your lower bills than they have. I'm not seeing the issue.
Which is exactly my point vis a vis the people who complain about the base charges for internet/wireless access. There is a contingent of people around here that bemoan the fact that the first 2GB costs $30 but each additional GB is $10. They seem to think that suggests the first 2GB should cost $20 but they ignore economies of scale and the underlying cost of having someone connected to a service even if they never/rarely use that service. Usage based telecommunications will never be charged purely for bits transferred. There will always be some sort of underlying minimum charge to cover the expenses of maintaining a connection to the network, generating monthly invoices and so on.
I think you and I largely agree here; most of my posts in this thread were simple thought exercises. Perhaps ISPs and wireless carriers should separate the minimum charge from underlying usage charges but for better or worse that isn't the current billing model.
It will all be a moot point in a few years anyway; usage based billing will cease to be necessary as technology advantages and the cost of delivering bits continues to drop. Wireless voice services used to come at an incredible premium; do you remember when cell minutes used to cost close to a $1 each? Could you have imagined unlimited cellular calling for $70-$80/mo back in the late 90s/early 2000s? The only reason wireless data is even being metered is because of the smartphone revolution; if people were still limited to Blackberries that did nothing more than light web browsing and push e-mail it wouldn't be necessary to meter data or even to deploy 4G networks. |
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