What’s the real cost of internet video?

Check this article from The Register on the cost of Internet video:

Users want it, but today, the business models give operators the incentive to throttle, rather than encourage, high-bandwidth uses of the internet. MIT calls this the ‘Broadband Incentive Problem’.

Last July, my company IP Development published research into the cost of 1080p HDTV [PDF, 128k] delivered over a UK LLU network and came to a figure of £2.10 per two hour film. This research was of interest to a wide community, from ISPs who bear this cost to internet evangelists who believed that we were somehow in the pocket of the big telcos in the Net Neutrality debate.

(We were not paid by anyone for that research – but the conclusions then and now clearly support the view that Net Neutrality is likely to neuter the internet.)

The point is that such figures are not economically viable, and if this is the best the net can do, then so long and thanks for all the fish…

And note the utilization graph, with spikes at odd times of the day.

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