Someone has to pay for the bigger pipes. If not the content providers then it would have to be the ISP subscribers. Since the subscribers don't need bigger pipes between themselves and the ISP right now, they see little to no reason to pay for extra for stuff they don't see. I really don't see a problem here.
Someone already pays for the networks to exist. We've found a way to do that. The data capacity of the internet keeps expanding and doesn't necessarily create expenses out of proportion with the current economic model. Remember, a bigger pipe is actually cheaper on a bit per second basis.
Ah yes, the Cheaper by the Dozen syndrome. And while it is true that per item they are cheaper, the greater quantity does mean there is an increased cost. We went thru a long period where we had glut of backbone capacity because of the internet bubble that popped in 2000. That's done. Increased capacity needs to be paid for by someone or the ISPs won't do it. Indeed, they shouldn't do it. Yet because the data needs of individual subscribers haven't expanded past the advertised size of their local pipes to the ISP, those subscribers reluct and resent footing the bill for increased backbone. Indeed, since it is the massive central source content providers that are creating the demand for increased capacity, it makes sense that they be the ones to pay for it.
Maybe, I'm not an engineer so I'm not really sure either way. But, I've heard that advances in fiber optic technology, cellular data and WIFI are basically keeping pace with the internet and web. This was in a lecture by one of the inventors of the internet I attended a few years ago.
The technology is not the problem. The problem is who is going to pay for all that hardware.
If we had been operating under that regime 10 years ago, we likely would not have YouTube today. They never would have been able to pay those higher fees as a small startup.
ISPs and cable companies are more opposed to innovation than just about any incumbent firms I can think of. They aren't reluctant to invest in new capacity because of a pricing issue. They're reluctant to invest in new capacity because that eats into their profits.
