Unlimited Bandwidth Communication - One of the ThreePillarsOfTheNewEconomicSystem (go there for more information); the others being AutomatedIntelligence and BioTechnology.
 
http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/l_perelman_1.html - UnlimitedBandwidthCommunication makes possible the use of Automated InformationDevices of the 21st century (vaporware no longer)
* "... it is clear that (in the future) knowledge (will) account for a far greater share of economic value added than the traditional material factor of production: land, labor, and physical capital." --LewisjPerelman

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'''WirelessLocalAreaNetworks'''
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Support for WiFi Devices is increasing daily and a CommunicationExplosion has begun utilizing the 802.11 protocol. See SeattleWireless KcWireless BostonWireless for local examples of a coast-to-coast explosion of OpenConnectivity.

Update 20050622: Connectivity has expanded beyond local demonstration and development sites to the point where point separation of connectivity is shrinking from earlier distances of miles apart to that of approaching overlap and multiple access points. (Urban areas)

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''Is this pillar really about unlimited bandwidth?  It seems to be more about wide availability.''

No it is about '''Communication''' where conventional "notions of scarcity don't apply". 

''This isn't explained well in the source article either.  The example is how downloading music makes music unprofitable.  The whole article is pretty shallow.''

Excerpt:
"If these ideas seem fanciful, just look at the music industry right now. Music can be digitally produced anywhere by just about anyone. You can get programs that can author music of any style you pick. The ability to copy and distribute music without limit and without payment is now out of the box and out of control. The whole industry now is seriously wondering whether anyone soon will be able to make any money from music at all." 
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'''Pricing Until Then'''

Until that point, there needs to be some practical pricing structure. Throttling seems the most realistic in my opinion. Throttle a user's throughput after they reach their threshold (which varies depending on service plan). Thus, if your "limit" is 5 gig a month, as soon as you go over 5 gig, your throughput starts to go down. 

Let's say there's a lower limit of 5 and an upper limit of 7. When you go over, your throughput percent (t) will be roughly:

  t = ((7 - a) * 100) / (7 - 5)

where "a" is the actual used amount for a given month. Thus, if you used 6 gigs for a given month, then your throughput would be 50% of normal. The gradualness allows one to still get critical services but with slowness as a warning.

The problem with pay-per-use (metering) is the variable billing. Variable billing is more complex and messy. Customers will start to demand better tracking approaches and disputes will enrage. Plus, their kids will run up big bills, which is a constant problem with phones.

Ideally there'd be choice of metered and throttling thresholds.

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See also IfYouBuildItTheyWillCome

JuneZeroFive

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