Hacker News Reader

Comment by captn3m0 | Hacker News Reader

>Bought a zoom package and data add-on today because I need zoom to work

So the ISP does have cheaper bandwidth available, but only if you pay them more. This is _exactly_ why we need Net Neutrality - instead of having to figure out whether we should block Pinterest.

View on HN

I found that data plans that Sri Lanka Telecom offers here[0] with the "zoom package" that he was referring to here[1]. The "zoom package" that he mentioned doesn't seem to be any faster, it just adds additional data to the cap for Microsoft Teams/Zoom/Skype/etc. Their standard plans have also separate data caps for regular and off peak hours. Remember how cell phone plans used to be metered by the minute for talk and you had a different allocation for nights and weekends. Now even cheap prepaid plans in the US offer unlimited talk. When Sri Lankan infrastructure improves and their economy grows plans like this will be a thing of the past.

[0] https://slt.lk/en/broadband/packages

[1] https://slt.lk/en/broadband/data-addons/meet

It may be cheaper because Zoom subsidizes the cost in which case net neutrality would increase the cost to the end user.

Maybe in the short term. In the long term, not having net neutrality here reduces competition by giving Zoom an additional artificial advantage over its less entrenched competition.

Net Neutrality is good for society however that wasn't the argument of the person I replied to. I'm merely pointing out that lower telecom prices isn't a consequence of net neutrality.

Ultimately it is as competition leads to lower prices.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com