[LINK] When the Internet gets in the way of life

[Tom Worthington]

On 13/8/19 9:30 am, Dr Bob Jansen wrote:

>> Maybe there should be a free low speed plan available ...

Subsidizing Internet access would reduce the welfare budget available 
for other purposes, and so would not be "free".

Australia had a Digital Data Service Obligation (DDSO), from 1999 to 
2009, set at 64 kbps. https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/ddso

There is a "Centrelink Telephone Allowance" for phone and Internet. The 
basic rate is $29.60 for three months, to cover both phone and Internet. 
https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/telephone-allowance

I tried a mobile phone plan for $10 a month. But it only provided 1 
Gbyte per month of data, before being throttled to 256kps, which was a 
bit too slow. If this was increased to 1.5 Mbps it would be would be usable.


-- 
Tom Worthington, MEd FHEA FACS CP http://www.tomw.net.au +61(0)419496150
TomW Communications Pty Ltd. PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Prof. Standards Legislation

Honorary Lecturer, Computer Science, Australian National University
https://cecs.anu.edu.au/research/profile/tom-worthington