http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139776/AT_T_weighs_higher_fees_for_data_hogs?taxonomyId=15This is an edited extract from the full article at the link above.AT&T is finalizing a plan that could impose higher fees on big data users, subject to rules that may come from federal regulators regarding net neutrality, an AT&T executive said today.
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said the carrier is considering "pricing options," which could be affected by whatever rules come from the Federal Communications Commission as it weighs net neutrality. The FCC voted Thursday to formally open a rulemaking process and receive comments on creating net neutrality rules.
The proposed rules would allow Web users to run legal applications and access legal Web sites of their choice, while prohibiting broadband providers such as AT&T from selectively blocking or slowing content.
As the FCC hears comments and weighs what to do, AT&T's considerations of ways to deal with extreme bandwidth users are "all in flux," de la Vega told analysts in a third quarter conference call today. "But we will come up with ways that mitigate the [network] impact we've seen by a small number of customers who are driving inordinate usage."
De la Vega said AT&T has been "experimenting with focus groups to figure out how to handle that [issue] of how to get that small percentage [of users] to carry their weight, if you will, without imposing on others in a way that's detrimental."
AT&T has seen a "data explosion like we've never seen ... and a lot is driven by a small percentage of customers," de la Vega said.
If high users get higher charges then lower users will see lower charges of course? Oh Yeah, and pigs might fly!
