Flat rate - Definition and Overview

A flat rate (sometimes "linear rate") refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage.

For Internet service providers, flat rate is access to the Internet all hour and days of the year (linear rate) and for all the customers of the telco operator (universal) at a fixed and cheap tariff.

Flat rate is common in all the broadband access to the Internet. To be universal, flat rate must be offered to the dial-up access users, not only to broadband Internauts.

A charge tariff is a class of linear rate, different from the flate rate, where the user is charged by the uploads and downloads (data transfers). The GPRS access to the Internet in some countries of Europe has no flat rates pricing, following the obsolete "metered mentality". Because of this, the users prefer using the fixed lines (with narrow or broadband access) to connect to the Internet.

A "wavy rate" is not a linear rate, because the Internet surfer pays the monthly fixed price to use the connection only during a certain range of hours of the day (i.e. only in the morning or, more typically, only at night).

Example Usage of Flat