ArsGeek

More people are using broadband than ever before. More people are downloading movies and music than ever before. More people are watching streaming video than ever before. More providers are offering this stuff than ever before. More companies are going to cloud computing than ever before. More companies are using these cloud computing services than ever before.

Wait a second. You already knew all of that? No, it’s not exactly breaking news, but the potential for disaster created by all of this is often overlooked. The issue is that bandwidth is not unlimited and all of the above use it up by the boatload. InfoWorld has a fascinating five-page article about this, citing conflicting prophecies from different analysts. Some believe broadband prices will skyrocket or more caps will be implemented.

Some believe bandwidth will become a utility and providers will charge by use like water or electricity, which would presumably cut down on wasting. I can see the RIAA having interest in this, if only for that it would likely reduce illegal downloads by a substantial margin. People would at least be forced to be more selective in what they downloaded, because they would no longer be getting the goods for free.

Sites like Hulu, YouTube, Netflix, etc. would have a huge fork thrown in their spokes if such a thing were to occur. You’d see a sudden drop in the viewing of streaming video, a business that is just starting to get into full swing (YouTube is finally being monetized).

It’s interesting to note that Wall Street might be part of the problem too. Broadband providers want to “open the pipe” as InfoWorld puts it:

But such large investments have been slow in coming, mainly because Wall Street dislikes them. Every dollar on capital improvements reduces carriers’ profits, and investors tend to punish capital investments by reducing carriers’ stock prices, notes the Free Press’s Turner. Because most broadband providers have little or no competition, he says, the Wall Street pressure usually prevails.

“It’s unrealistic to have all entertainment be delivered digitally [over the Internet],” says a Gartner analyst. “You would need fiber to the home [everywhere] to be able to have unlimited capacity.”

Isn’t that what the Matrix is for?

You should really read the InfoWorld article to get the whole picture. There are more sides to this story than I care to get into here. Like I said. It’s a five-pager.

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