copied from TBTF

..@Home to limit upstream bandwidth

  The free lunch is running out for the early cable adopters

    The cable Internet provider is fighting a PR backlash [30] after news
    leaked of a planned nationwide bandwidth cap, for upstream data, of
    128K. An internal @Home memo [31] intended for cable system
operators
    was posted to Usenet. It details the company's strategy for handling
    the anticipated customer firestorm once the policy (which the memo
    calls the ONadvantage Upstream Enhancement) is announced
nationwide.

    @Home first instituted such a cap in Fremont, CA, one of the first
    communities to see widespread adoption of the cable service. The
    initial high upstream bandwidth (1 Mbit/sec.) and the "always-on"
    nature of the service tempted an abnormally high proportion of
Fremont
    customers to commit what @Home calls "subscriber abuse" --
operating
    Web servers, Shoutcast servers, and FTP warez depots out of their
    homes. (That's a funny term, "subscriber abuse"; from a subscriber's
    point of view the label could as easily fit @Home's policy.)

    For a clear-headed look at some of the real issues of bandwidth and
    average subscriber behavior, read Restil's posting in this Slashdot
    discussion [32].

    [30]
    http://www.internetnews.com/isp-
news/article/0,1087,8_144121,00.html
    [31]
    
http://x24.deja.com/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=487238496&CONTEXT=9
3019143
    7.185663528&hitnum=15 [32]
    
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=99%2F06%2F27%2F1342220&cid
=&pid=0&
    startat=&threshold=2&mode=thread&commentsort=3&op=Change
____________

________________________________________
            Harold Jarvie
              Wellington
             New Zealand
         hjarvie@bigfoot.com
    http://bigfoot.com/~hjarvie
________________________________________

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Received on Mon Jul 12 11:00:25 1999