[plug] isp

[Michael Hunt]

<snip>

> I really hate it how ISPs charge you outrageous amounts for
> things that don't
> cost them a cent like:
>
> 1. Mailboxes.
> 2. Domain hosting (when you have already registered your domain and want
> www.mydomain.com instead of members.iinet.net.au/~mydomain)
> 3. Stuff you download from their local servers.
> 4. A static IP address (over a dynamic one)
>
> They are basically charging you for these things because they've got the
> power to deny you these things. I understand that WAIX traffic is
> yet another
> thing that they don't pay for but users do.
>
> Anthony

I agree with you on the first four that they shouldn't charge you
'outrageous amounts' for these kinds of services, though having worked for
an ISP there is an administrative overhead in providing these extra services
and that cost has to be recouped somehow. Also there are so many players in
the market with very little in the way of margins (gone are the days when
running an ISP was a licence to print money), You have to differentiate
yourself someway and try and price in a bit of fat on some of the additional
products. All round your average consumer is just treated as a commodity by
the larger ISP's and the smaller ones are just trying to figure out ways
that they can make a decent living from the whole shebang. If anything the
government needs to step in and do more for business IT and then there will
be run on effects for the consumer. (Sorry rant mode on there)

Besides it may be that iinet are having all of there ADSL traffic routed
through another state and there for even WAIX traffic charges aren't local.

My 0.02 CFA's worth (CFA stands for Central African Franc and they aren't
worth very much).

Michael Hunt

P.S. The spelling checker offered the word inept as a replacement for iinet
(sorry just a humble dig done in jest).