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The Internet, a growing network of networks, is an often touted and often misunderstood
technology. It has its own infrastructure complete with service providers, private networks, user
communities, international links, etc. similar to telephone or telegraph industries. However, the
Internet is more decentralized and less application-specific than traditional telecommunication
industries. These differences extend beyond the technology of the Internet to the economics and
policies.
This paper explores Internet economics, a growing field which encompasses the technology,
economics, and policy surrounding the Internet. It identifies different communities who have
overlapping interests in this field and how their preconceived notions of how the Internet operates
create contradictory views on how this technology will continue to evolve in a self-sustaining
manner. Specifically, it explores the issue of usage sensitive pricing versus flat-fee pricing as
applied to the Internet. It provides anecdotal evidence to support general views communities
have towards pricing issues. It identifies roadblocks to implement usage sensitive pricing on the
Internet. It describes short-term projects that will provide better data to enable a better
understanding of the issues. |
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