more on BT says no VOIP Blocking

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: John Shoch <shoch () alloyventures com>
Date: October 30, 2004 7:06:28 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: John Shoch <shoch () alloyventures com>
Subject: RE: [IP] BT says no VOIP Blocking

Dave,

Well, once again "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

Anyone who thinks they can get "free" telephony (or video or P2P) over 
the internet will be in for a rude awakening.
The ISP "all you can eat" end-user pricing models are, of course, based 
on some set of assumptions about typical usage.
If you add significant VoIP/video/P2P the model gets broken -- either 
quality levels go down, or the ISPs go broke adding more equipment.
Rather than get crushed under a flood of P2P packets, ISPs will 
eventually have to raise prices or protect themselves (P-Cube, 
www.caspiannetworks.com, etc.).

QOS is not necessarily meant to cut back any class of traffic;  but QOS 
does ALLOW systems to prioritize traffic, and develop appropriate 
pricing models.  In the future, we should expect that ISPs will offer 
higher levels of QOS tied to higher charges.  You will be able to pay 
for high-quality VoIP or video, if that's important to you.  (Remember 
why student standby tickets used to be so cheap -- you could get 
delayed!)

Remember, anyone who expects a free lunch usually gets a pretty crummy 
lunch.

John Shoch
Alloy Ventures

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