(Taking this back on list for people to critique as they please.)
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 21:50:39 -0700
From: David Schwartz <davids@webmaster.com>
[ snip ]
The problem with these other billing methods is primarily that they fail
to reward people for taking effort to smooth out their usage. If my
customers can do their bulk transfers off-peak, I'd like to reward them
for it. That way they save me money.
People would probably balk at the complexity and variability, but I've
contemplated a two-stage billing model...
Have the base rate determined purely by traffic volume, i.e. GB/mo.
Now apply an adjustment factor based on x = (95th / mean).
x = 1.00 is perfectly flat; give substantial discount
x = 1.50 is a moderate sine wave; consider this typical T-3
x = 2.50 is a typical T-1
x = 1.00 to 1.249# --> 25% off
x = 1.25 to 1.399# --> 10% off
x = 1.40 to 1.799# --> standard rate
x = 1.80 to 2.499# --> 10% surcharge
x = 2.50 up ---------> 25% surcharge
and so on. I'd need to look at numbers, so don't take the above as the
right mix, but you get the idea.
Eddy