ISP's want BBC to pay for iplayer use

[Lee H]

According to the following news report they want the BBC to pay towards the bandwidth used as they estimate that their networks will grind to a halt once this is launched and more and more people jump on the video streaming bandwagon.

More can be found http://news.independent.co.uk/busine...cle2856766.ece

So, are we looking at an internet slowdown in the near future as the pipes are blocked with streams of BBC shows, or are the ISP's just trying to milk money from the BBC?

[young_one]

'Yeah we built our network really badly with no real futureproofing or planning, if you could stop using it or just pay us more that would be great......'

The thing is I would not be shouting about how terrible my product is in the ISP's position, even if they thought there was a slim chance the BBC would subsidise some service improvements it really isnt worth the negative image johnny public will now have about a poor ISP.

[Steve]

So the BBC write a player that's DRM infected and sickeningly single-platform.

And then the ISPs say they can't handle the traffic.

IPTV's really taking off!

[chuckskull]

So the BBC write a player that's DRM infected and sickeningly single-platform.

And then the ISPs say they can't handle the traffic.

IPTV's really taking off!

Took the words right out of my mouth. Looks like Britain is going to get the whole Net neutrality thing next. It's like City link charging scan to deliver my stuff and then charging me again at the door

[shaithis]

Hopefully the ISPs will now have to re-evaluate how stupid an "unlimited package with FUP" actually is.

[Lee H]

If they do request that the BBC pays towards bandwidth I can see the BBC applying to increase the dreaded TV license fee to cover this.

[CrazyMonkey]

If they do request that the BBC pays towards bandwidth I can see the BBC applying to increase the dreaded TV license fee to cover this.

Yeah i could see that happening.

[Jay]

its bad that ISPs offer the bandwith but when we want to use it they complain!

If you aint got it don't offer it!

"hey you lot here's 20mb/768k... but if you all use it the network will simply craw to a halt."

[mroz]

Hopefully the ISPs will now have to re-evaluate how stupid an "unlimited package with FUP" actually is.

Bad idea? It's a wonderful business idea designed to screw customers over. I just don't understand how the have ever gotten away with it. This should all be fun to watch unfold.

[chuckskull]

I've just read a bit more about this, basically the IP's are annoyed because iPlayer is P2P, if it were direct download the ISP's would rake in the cash from peering contracts etc. This being why they've not gone after C4's project or youtube.

Basically once more IP's don't like us using the bandwidth we pay pay for

[Steve]

What I will say is that getting the infrastructure right is hard.

Most people use probably less than 1% of their potential bandwidth a month. More extreme users might use 20%. These are numbers I've just surmised, based on connection speed, not download limit.

So there's a big delta there, and the ISP needs to be able to handle it without wasting money.

Point being, they have to carefully monitor usage at quite a granular level, be aware of upcoming trends and changing habits, and upgrade capacity in advance to meet these things. Then they make sure they have cost effective peering.

Bottom line is most ISPs don't have the skills or resources to do these things, and are forced into reacting with quick fixes and anti-consumer policies.

[Jay]

most modern companys use the "just in time" method of business, ISPs tend to use the "just not in time" method.

[SpawnofSonic]

I've been using iPlayer on my wifes laptop, its quite good, but if ISP's start charging either the consumer or the BBC more because of it I think we will have all types of problems.

Now I understand that ISP's have to balance, on quite a fine line, bandwidth available and the cost of providing extra bandwidth and then the cost to the consumer but surely they should be thinking about how the way people use the internet is different. The use of VoIP and the use of iPlayer like products is only going to increase, we need more bandwith and we need it now,.

Fair Usage Policies also need to be scrapped as all they do is provide ISP's with another way to charge us for a service we are essentially already paying for. Unlimited means unlimited, not unlimited which actually means you can only do X Y & Z

-- lunch time rant over

[aidanjt]

Agreed, this trend of bandwidth taxing isn't going to work for very long until they hit a brick wall, and suddenly they have no bandwidth available and have to actually look at their shoddy infrastructure.