Does network usage need to be priced?
Network resources are scarce, and thus some allocation scheme is re quired. We explained above why voluntary and technological allocation mechanisms are unlikely to remain satisfactory. Various forms of usage pricing have desirable features for congestion control, and are likely to be equally desirable for allocating multiple service classes in an integrated services network. In any case, voluntary schemes will require substantial overprovision ing to handle the burstiness of demand, and the wide range of bandwidths required by different applications. Excess capacity has been subsidized heavily–directly or indirectly–through public funding. While provid ing network services as a zero marginal price public good probably made sense during the research, development and deployment phases of the Internet, it is harder to rationalize as the network matures and becomes widely used by commercial interests. Why should data network usage be free even to universities, when telephone and postal
