The Approaching Bandwidth Wars
As internet service providers begin to offer customers faster speeds, a new area of competition is underway. Initially, the race was to provide the fastest possible internet service. Of late the speed race has outpaced the demands of users’ computers. This has created a new variable for internet service provider. The bandwidth cap is quickly becoming the new battlegrounds over which these companies will compete.
There are price limitations on the amount of bandwidth a consumer may use in a month. While users may feel like there is a secret conspiracy that prevents them from getting the bandwidth they want at a affordable cost, there are hardware costs involved in getting data to your computer at the speeds we’ve become accustomed to. On the bright side, though, prices are generally determined by the amount a customer is willing to spend on a product. Currently, the costs being charged by most internet service providers meet the needs of consumers. However, one change in user behavior looms on the horizon that threatens to destroy the present comfortable foundation on which service providers build their business plans. The average consumer will eventually want to watch HD TV content on their PC. This will spell the end of cable TV.
While cable companies have a vested interest in forestalling the inevitable by limiting monthly bandwidth, they will be unable to maintain control of the market forever. Wireless internet will soon be available all over major population centers at blinding speeds. This will make it nearly impossible for the transition to online media consumption to be prevented.
This will be great for the consumer. As companies start to boast that they provide more bandwidth for your money, caps will increase very quickly. Companies that sell hardware to internet service providers will have to lower their prices as well. This is how markets function.
With all of the many methods of transferring data, there will be a huge focus on value. For the consumer who desires to view high quality videos, this will be a dramatic improvement to the quality of life. High quality content inevitably leads to higher bandwidth demands.
Bandwidth limits will also have an affect on the quality of content that is produced. For example, most current media files need to be compressed to meet bandwidth limitations. When it becomes possible to download and upload more data at faster speeds, these limitations would disappear. This could result in new advancements in music recording software. Why not create massive music files if they can be transferred very quickly? It’s the same for video files. If providers can deliver bigger files, then movie files will be available with increased quality. Over time this will permit for serious growth in the quality of audio and video files.
Online games will benefit from this expansion too. As data transfer rates go through the roof, you can expect games to take advantage of all the newly available bandwidth. Online games will never tie up as much bandwidth as streaming video or music, but it’s a certainty that the demands of gamers will increase at the same pace.
There is an exciting future for online content. While many whine about current bandwidth caps, we are not far away from a race between providers to deliver the best value for the money. In the end, this will mean great things for the consumer of high quality online content.
Gregg Housh holds the position of Technician Manager at Geek Choice. At Geek Choice we solve computer problems such as: Slow computer, Virus Removal, Spyware Removal, Computer startup problems, and much more.
