Law Commons^™

Internet Policy’S Next Frontier: Data Caps, Tiered Service Plans, And Usage-Based Broadband Pricing, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

Usage-based pricing has rapidly become one of the most controversial topics in Internet policy. Both wired and wireless broadband providers are migrating from flat-rate pricing to a variety of consumption-based pricing models. Some consumer groups have viewed the change to usage-based pricing with skepticism, fearing it will usher in an era of higher prices, deteriorating service, and increasingly anticompetitive conduct. This article evaluates the merits of data caps, tiered-service plans, and other usage-based pricing strategies. It finds that usage-based broadband pricing is not inherently anti-consumer or anti-competitive. Rather, it reflects a cluster of pricing strategies through which a broadband company …

The Challenge Of Voip To Legacy Federal And State Regulatory Regimes, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

We Should Promote Broadband Price Innovation, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

Panelist And Participant, "Why The Wires Matter: A Broadband Policy Seminar For A New Generation Of Scholars", Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

Technology Convergence And Federalism: The Case Of Voip Regulation, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

From the introduction The Vermont Supreme Court may soon consider whether federal law permits the Public Service Board to regulate certain voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP ) services. Across the Hudson, Governor Andrew Cuomo recently sought to bar the New York Public Service Commission from adopting similar regulations. And these states are not alone: from Maine to Florida, several states are considering whether their jurisdiction over traditional telephone service encompasses this new technology, through which nearly one third of American landline households receive telephone service. If so, nationwide VoIP providers could face up to fifty new legal regimes with which they must comply …

Why Usage-Based Broadband Plans May Be Good For You, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

This article was also published on the Providence Journal's This New England Blog at http://blogs.providencejournal.com/ri-talks/this-new-england/2013/03/daniel-a-lyons-usage-based-broadband-plans-may-good-for-you.html

Internet Pricing: The Next Policy Frontier, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

In the past few years, broadband providers have begun shifting toward tiered service plans (sometimes known as usage-based pricing) that offer customers a fixed amount of data each month for a fee. On average, less than 2 percent of users exceed the most commonly-used tier of 300 GB; nearly 80 percent of consumers never exceed even 50 GB per month. Nevertheless, some critics such as Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation are concerned that this trend may bring higher prices and reduced service. Most recently, NAF analyst Benjamin Lennett asked whether tiered service plans are a plot by cable …

The Impact Of Data Caps And Other Forms Of Usage-Based Pricing For Broadband Access, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

In recent years, broadband providers have introduced data caps and other plans that charge customers based on use. While regulators have generally approved of this shift, some consumer groups fear that usage-based pricing will lead to higher prices and deteriorating service. They also fear data caps allow companies like Comcast to protect their cable businesses from upstarts like Netflix.

This article evaluates the merits of data caps and other usage-based pricing strategies. Usagebased pricing shifts more network costs onto heavier Internet users. This can reduce costs for others and make broadband more accessible to low-income consumers. Usage-based pricing can also …

Why Broadband Pricing Freedom Is Good For Consumers, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

From the introduction: Usage-based pricing has rapidly become one of the most high-profile topics in Internet policy. In the past few years, many broadband providers have migrated from all-you-can-eat flat-rate pricing to consumption-based pricing models such as tiered service plans or data caps. This trend has been most prominent in the wireless sector, where monthly limits were an almost inevitable solution to the surge in bandwidth demand unleashed by the smartphone revolution. Some fixed broadband providers have adopted much larger data caps for residential broadband use as well.

The Internet As The World's Biggest Copy Machine, And How Plaintiff's Bar Seeks To Monetize It, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

On February 23, 2013, Professor Lyons presented at the First Circuit Spring Meeting of the American Bar Association Student Division.

Dc Think Tank Tells Americans That Their Broadband Is Really Great, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

In Re Preserving The Open Internet: Reply Comments Of Professor Daniel A. Lyons, Daniel A. Lyons

Daniel Lyons

Reply Comments on FCC Proposed Rulemaking into Net Neutrality

Brief For Cato Institute Et Al. As Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioners, City Of Arlington Texas Et Al. V. Federal Communications Commission Et Al., Daniel A. Lyons, Jonathon H. Adler, Roderick M. Hills

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

Usage-Based Pricing And Net Neutrality, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Data Caps And Other Forms Of Usage Based Pricing For Broadband Access, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Universal Service Fund For The Digital Age, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.