Mr I Forrester wrote: > "Relationships between the BBC and internet industry have plunged to an > all-time low, after the BBC's internet chief Ashley Highfield used a > blog post yesterday to tell ISPs to get stuffed - and even threatened to > name and shame them."
For those who actually want to read the original blog post it is at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/04/hidden_costs_of_watching_tv_on.html> I think Ashley did make a slight mistake though: > The Telegraph suggested users stream content rather than download to > save money. We don’t think this makes any difference. It makes a huge difference when billed by the byte so to speak. The Streaming iPlayer is lower quality (so lower bit rate) and the data transfer is one way. Download iPlayer is higher bit rate and sends data both ways, and it is hard (if not impossible) to tell in advance how much is uploaded. Someone did ask me specifically about iPlayer and how it would affect there bandwidth usage. The problem was I couldn't answer it! The BBC does not state how big the streaming data is (there is a filesize in the HTML source but this is for download and both streaming formats, which can't be right can it?). And even if I did measure the streaming how on earth do I answer the question about the P2P version? It downloads but then uploads an unspecified amount, yes I could guess but how? In a fair system it would upload the same amount it download (1:1 ratio) but then the system probably has to account for users who can't (or won't) upload. And then the inevitable question: "How do I know how much I have transferred". Anyone else annoyed ISPs charge for exceeding quota but won't tell you how much you've used? Yes you can install software on your PC but it's not accurate. What we really need is Unlimited monthly quota on all plans because the average man in the street does not understand all this quota rubbish. Oddly foreign countries can offer Unlimited monthly download/upload with speeds of 100Mb down AND up for less than we pay in the UK[1]. BT is crippling the countries Telecoms infrastructure and Ofcom does nothing! Andy [1] http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/32/36546318.pdf - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
