Why does bandwidth cost money?
Lots of good answers regarding growth and resource allocation. Here is some information on how the infrastructure works: The highest-bandwidth links (what people often inaccurately call the “backbone”) are fiber-optic cables that are fairly cheap to operate. Unlike the old copper lines, only the longest links require powered amplifiers, and old fiber can often (but not always) be adapted to support higher bandwidth. Governments and other land owners may charge annual leases for the fiber right-of-way. Sometimes cables are damaged due to construction or other service work. At the end-points of fiber links are very expensive termination equipment. This can range from a $200-$2000 FastEthernet media converter (useful for links of up to 40km) to Lucent’s LambdaExtreme Transport. Once you’ve lit up a single fiber link, you have to consider the reliability of that link. Most networks are
