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That everyone be able to access it is a human right, but the equipment to provide and maintain access is a commodity with associated costs, and no body has the right to force the ones who make it to give it away. That's an important distinction that a lot of people forget.
You're correct that internet "access is a commodity with associated costs". But these costs are already being absorbed in a number of ways, with ISPs and service providers offering free access to cloud servers and software/apps and games through support of advertising revenues. And as long as you do not care for a few adverts thrown your way this makes much sense and helps promote the "free market" ideal.
From the early 90's we had to pay a high premium for a subscription to an ISP and pay for the phone line connection also. This was then superseded by ISPs providing pay-per-minute connections rendering subscription costs redundant. As the speed of connection and broadband services emerged, even pay-per-minute access was outmoded as too expensive and subscriptions were back again. What next when broadband access becomes cheaper and even more abundant and widespread?
As we head towards a post-scarcity age of rights to internet access, connection will become even more commonplace and inexpensive, most likely supported by tax revenues also. Especially if we continue to use internet access as a basic tool for school and home education, for encouraging private enterprise, buying and selling online. Internet access may also be subsidised by company benefits schemes, as a part of salaries payments, from retail purchase offers, vouchers, or offered to the growing unemployed in exchange for online surveys or products and services testing, beta testing or other? The ways to pay for access are limited only by imagination?
In the near future, broadband internet access will be so cheap, it would not be worth the time, effort and administration costs to collect the revenues?
Indeed so. I hope no problem with providers creating whatever subsidization scheme they want to work with, as long as ome form of force from the state is not applied. Eventually, access will probably hit the "too cheap to meter" state, and providers will get their revenue some other way. Personally, I'm figuring on privately-owned Comsat networks. As long as there's no force involved, it's to be desired.
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The IEET is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization registered in the State of Connecticut in the United States.
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Williams 119, Trinity College, 300 Summit St., Hartford CT
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