Arguing against a ban or regulation, the paper says that “usage-based pricing can improve broadband affordability and, in turn, foster increased adoption. Under flat-rate pricing, all consumers pay the same amount regardless of usage, potentially leading to overuse by heavy users and cross-subsidization by light users. With usage-based pricing, consumers who use less data pay less, consumers who use more pay more, and no group of consumers cross-subsidizes usage by other users. Service that was unaffordable to some consumers under flat-rate pricing may become affordable to those who use less data, thereby expanding adoption among that cohort.”

Except that in markets with a single provider they use data caps a s a way to charge more for the same service. In Austin I had a choice between multiple providers and ended up paying $50/month for uncapped bidirectional 500mbps service. In Wyoming, the same service costs $349 because there is only one provider.

Any attempt to limit or ban data caps will draw strong opposition from FCC Republicans and Internet providers. Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington last week argued that regulating data caps would be akin to mandating free coffee refills:

Suppose we were a different FCC, the Federal Coffee Commission, and rather than regulating the price of coffee (which we have vowed not to do), we instead implement a regulation whereby consumers are entitled to free refills on their coffees. What effects might follow? Well, I predict three things could happen: either cafés stop serving small coffees, or cafés charge a lot more for small coffees, or cafés charge a little more for all coffees.

You used to see a lot of bad analogies when people didn’t understand computers or the Internet. Are we still in that age? The Internet is a series of tubes?

Come on, Lina! Be the regulator we (the people) need!

Edit: wrong agency, whoops 😬