Fantastic discussion folks! This has been constantly on my mind since '97 when I paid $3500/month for a T1. Even more now with video moving to our networks. Marlon is right, proper implementaion is critical. When I started metered billing, I made sure everyone knew and that they had plenty of elbow room in their caps. That way when their usage went up there were no surprises - they knew they had been using it more. We lost only a few subs and they were the ones that ate up the network. Interesting enough, most of our customers fully understood and apprecaited it. They felt as though they werent subsidizing the bandwidth hogs. -RickG
On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Marlon K. Schafer <[email protected]>wrote: > You've nailed the trick here Mike. > > What WE have to figure out how to do is move the billing with customer > habits. > > As people move their seats from the TV to the computer we need to move that > financial outflow from the video people to us.... > > BTW, dollars to donuts if you put in a per bit billing package that's > reasonable you'll loose VERY few customers. And most of them will be ones > that are costing you far more than they are paying you. > > marlon > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mike" <[email protected]> > To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 7:09 AM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Metered Billing > > > > There are those (the 5%?) who will just try to max out the pipe all > > the time if that's what they perceive they are paying for. > > > > This thread is making me think through some of the cob webs which are > > rising uses on ALL of our networks. Christmas is coming, so are new > > game consoles. > > > > I constantly look at my Verizon bill and try to figure out how to > > trim it; I can't. Four phones, national plan, unlimited > > texting/pictures, 1200 shared minutes; we pay about $240.00 per > > month, or about $60.00 per phone. I view that as obscene, but also > > feel somewhat trapped. Verizon, ex-Alltel, ex-GTE, has the best > > network between Iowa and Florida where my phones reside. > > > > We've weaned ourselves away from the local rapacious monopolist -- > > Iowa Telecom -- but still throw money at Verizon and Dish network > > every month. If I wasn't a Hawkeye fan, I'd toss Dish out too, but I > > can't get the Big 10 network over-the-air. > > > > My point is, as far as communications costs go, Internet, if we were > > a customer instead of the vendor, would be a small portion of total > > monthly costs. Maybe it is time to rethink the whole > > paradigm. Except, if I make a bold move, competition would have to > > do the same thing, or I'd lose customers. > > > > I tried a tiered service once. My basic contract says 512 kbps. I > > let them burst to 2 or 4 M, whatever the pipe will let them do at the > > moment. If they have a persistent connection, and the pipe gets > > congested, I throttle them back by delaying packets. When I tried to > > sell tiered service with escalating minimum guarantees, I had few takers. > > > > Most of my customers are rural, unsophisticated, and bursty > > users. The business customers pay more and expect that to be the > > case. There seems to be a pain threshold of $45.00 for rural > > residential users. > > > > Mike > > > > At 08:45 AM 11/8/2009, you wrote: > >>Not everyone uses 6Mbps all day long. > >> > >>On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 7:52 PM, RickG <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > Thats one way to utilize bandwidth shaping but how do you " guaranteed > >> > minimum of 1.5Mbps, 4Mbps and > >> > 6Mbps" at those low rates to every use and make money? Maybe I'm wrong > >> > but > >> > the problem I see is that you will end up having unhappy subscribers > >> > when > >> > their expectations are not met. Thats where the premium rates can come > >> > in. > >> > I > >> > find people all the time who would pay more for committed speeds if it > >> > can > >> > be delivered. > >> > > >> > BTW: Cricket Communications, subsidiary of Leap Wireless has lost > money > >> > since its inception and continues to do so. Give me an example of an > >> > non-subsidized "all you can eat service" company in a competitive > >> > market > >> > that actually makes money (bottom line). > >> > > >> > > >> > On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 4:55 PM, Jayson Baker <[email protected]> > >> > wrote: > >> > > >> > > Ya know, we've looked at this many times over the past couple years, > >> > > and > >> > > even tested it for a bit. > >> > > > >> > > Fact is, people like unlimited, and not having to guess. I, myself, > >> > being > >> > > a > >> > > fairly lite user of the Internet, would still always opt for an > >> > > unlimited > >> > > plan--even if I knew my bill may be lower on a pay-per-use plan. I > >> > > have > >> > > unlimited cell phone minutes, txt messages, etc. If I could pay for > >> > > unlimited utilites, I'd certainly do that too! > >> > > > >> > > We've got the infrastructure in place for a pay-per-use, and could > >> > activate > >> > > it at anytime. We tried selling it about a year ago, and people > just > >> > > didn't > >> > > understand the concept. People aren't used to it--most people got > >> > > online > >> > > when Internet was $19.95/mo for dialup (or, $22.95 for AOL!), and > >> > > don't > >> > > remember the 10 for $10 dial-up packages. Nobody knows what ISDN > >> > > with > >> > 300 > >> > > hours is. > >> > > > >> > > We currently offer 12Mbps service for $24.95/mo. This makes us the > >> > fastest > >> > > in the area, and the cheapest. We have local sales, support and > >> > > installations. We decided the way to win is to shape traffic--we > >> > > offer > >> > > three 12Mbps packages; one with a guaranteed minimum of 1.5Mbps, > >> > > 4Mbps > >> > and > >> > > 6Mbps. If you do nothing than browse, share pictures, etc. (i.e. > >> > > "normal > >> > > use") you'll always see the 12Mbps. But once you fire up a torrent > >> > > or > >> > > Netflix, you only get that speed for 10 minutes--after that, you get > >> > > your > >> > > guaranteed minimum. Prices double from 1.5 to 4, and double again > >> > > going > >> > to > >> > > 6Mbps. We have never had a complaint about speed or price with this > >> > > structure. > >> > > > >> > > I'm hoping that the "big guys" do go to pay-per-use plans. Just one > >> > > more > >> > > way we can advertise and win against them. "Tired of counting your > >> > > bits > >> > > and > >> > > bytes? We're unlimited" Look at Cricket wireless--they've just > >> > > exploded > >> > > with customers on their unlimited-everything service. > >> > > > >> > > Just my 2 cents > >> > > > >> > > Jayson > >> > > > >> > > On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Travis Johnson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > > > >> > > > The cellular guys don't charge by the minute... I have an > >> > > > unlimited > >> > plan > >> > > > on my cell phone. I can also get unlimited text and internet > access > >> > > > for > >> > > > $9.95/mo extra. > >> > > > > >> > > > People don't want to guess what their internet bills are going to > >> > > > be > >> > from > >> > > > month to month. Would you want that at your own home? > >> > > > > >> > > > Travis > >> > > > Microserv > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > Gary Garrett wrote: > >> > > > > >> > > > You sound like the cell phone company. > >> > > > I am convinced the big failure in my business model is I charge by > >> > > > the > >> > > > month while the cellular guys charge by the minute. > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > Travis Johnson wrote: > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > Hi, > >> > > > > >> > > > You are talking about having to add additional resources (radius, > >> > > > etc.) > >> > > > to track it. Then you have to bill it. Then you get to deal with > >> > > > the > >> > > > phone calls from users that say "My computer wasn't even turned on > >> > > > during those times. Remove the charge or I will go elsewhere." > So, > >> > even > >> > > > that one extra phone call costs you money (because you have to > >> > > > think > >> > > > about scaling). Imagine if you have 100x the number of customers > >> > > > you > >> > > > have now... does the same solution work? Probably not. > >> > > > > >> > > > The easier solution would be to call that customer and get them to > >> > > > upgrade to the next plan up (which would provide higher speed as > >> > > > well). > >> > > > This works very well for us... and then I have that guaranteed > >> > > > extra > >> > > > income each month, even if they don't use it. > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > >> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> > > > WISPA Wants You! 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