Let’s talk about the broadband-cap gap

[Commentary] The cautionary tales around broadband caps are trickling in. The web ecosystem is failing consumers (and maybe teleworkers) when it comes to broadband and cloud services.

Here’s why:

• When there’s a problem, it’s hard for a consumer to know what to do.
• As people adopt cloud services, those providers don't think about broadband: Short of Netflix taking up the crusade against caps, we don't see Amazon, Mozy or Carbonite helping to educate users about how their services and settings for backups might influence their broadband caps. I don't think they should have to get into this education campaign in an ideal world, but for now, we live in a world with caps. Helping customers avoid getting kicked offline or charged extra for overages is good customer service.
• Residential service isn't clear-cut anymore: When uploading files or sharing videos as part of their jobs, are people who work from home eligible to buy business connections? In some cases, folks in residential areas cannot even get a business connection.