Is Pay-Per-Use for Broadband Inevitable?

[Commentary] Pay-per-use broadband pricing is not an evil plot by greedy robber barons, but a natural outcome of independent, rational consumer choice. Consider a town with an all-you-can-eat (flat rate) buffet and an a la carte (pay-per-use) restaurant. Smart shoppers on diets will save money by patronizing the a la carte restaurant, whereas heavy eaters will save money by visiting the buffet. As patrons switch, the average consumption of the buffet will increase, driving price increases for the luncheon special, causing even more users to switch to pay-per-use. Bottom line: it is not the proprietors driving this dynamic, but the customers themselves acting out of pure, rational self-interest -- light users, by deciding not to subsidize the heavy ones, foster the vitality of the pay-per-use model. As the spread in bandwidth consumption increases between frequent digital movie streamers or videoconferencing users and lightweight occasional emailers, rational light users will want to migrate to pay-per-use. Of course, people aren't always rational, and consumers often prefer to overpay for flat-rate rather than save money but risk bill shock.