Should what telecom caches not count towards the data cap?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Should what telecom caches not count towards the data cap?

tombrownzz

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#74216 27-Dec-2010 19:54

So if telecom caches some videos on YouTube, shouldn't those videos not be counted towards a user's monthly data cap? Because the cache servers are located in New Zealand right?

johnr

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#421946 27-Dec-2010 20:08

You think the cache servers cost nothing maintain? what about from the cache to your computer this has a cost as well

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sbiddle

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#421952 27-Dec-2010 20:18

Just because the data you're retrieveing is located in NZ doesn't mean it's without a cost.

Nothing is free in this world!

rscole86

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#421956 27-Dec-2010 20:33

The data still has to be caches first. While it would be nice if it was zero rated, discounted or rated at a percentage of normal data, in reality Telecom have bills to pay, and they are a company aiming to make a profit.

freitasm

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#421957 27-Dec-2010 20:50

Since you talked about YouTube I will give some bit of information you may not have now.

Would you know how Google manage to be in so many places at the same time? Sure, you think, they invest large and big, right?

Or perhaps not. You see, traffic to Google properties - Google Search, Google AdSense, Google Apps, YouTube and others - is gigantic. And ISPs of course are interested in reducing this traffic.

When an ISP start seeing bad speeds to YouTube they have to start caching it. But they can't simply do it, as YouTube has some "magic" behind it. Standard HTTP proxy won't do it.

So Google steps in, and offer a box - its own cache - to the ISP. It's a black box. The ISP can not touch it. The ISP can not configure it. The only thing the ISP can do it provide power and bandwidth - for free.

Google will make some calculations and tell the ISP "here, you need a box this big, and we need this much guaranteed bandwidth" for it to operate.

The ISP is not exactly told what the box is doing.

So, consider how much is the cost of this guaranteed bandwidth for the ISPs. And it's not only Telecom. There are other ISPs doing the same.

Then there's the other proxy servers - the standard ones. Storage, memory, bandwidth, software licence, software administration.

Nothing is free. Sure an ISP could zero rate the traffic to their proxy. And then they would probably increase the monthly cost of broadband services. if they didn't, at some time running the proxy would cost more than the savings.

johnr

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#421958 27-Dec-2010 20:58

The costs to run this hardware / software per month is huge and no way a free ride

And at the end of the day it gives the end user like yourself a much better experience

John

richms

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#421963 27-Dec-2010 21:03

certainly not $2 a gig like they are charging however. Any savings from the cache should be passed along so those that use cacheable things are rewarded over those that vpn out to get around it.

Richard rich.ms

LennonNZ

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#421966 27-Dec-2010 21:12

The savings of caches ARE passed onto the users. If ISP's in NZ did not have any type of caches (Akamai, Google , Web caches etc) then the cost of data/base charge WOULD be more overall.

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Beccara

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#421978 27-Dec-2010 21:44

Also google requires 500mbit of average traffic in order to give you a black box, which is why there are only a few in NZ

tombrownzz

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#422229 28-Dec-2010 21:23

So all YouTube gives telecom is a box? Does the box have a cpu and hard drives?

freitasm

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#422230 28-Dec-2010 21:25

A "box" in this context is a server. as such it does have all a server should have - CPU, memory, permanent storage, network adapters, and operating system.