> most ISPs are a subscription model, where you pay per month. This is normal most places. That's metered access, just on a longer timeframe than your willing to consider. But there's really no difference.

If you take a taxi, they have a meter, so they can charge you per distance travelled. So that's metered. If you give your mate $10 to drive you somewhere, that's a fixed fee. There's no meter running, so it's not metered.

By the same token, if you pay for an internet connection for each hour/ GB you use, that's metered internet. If you pay a fixed price per month for a connection, that's a fixed fee. There's no meter running, so it's not metered.

This difference matters.

Here in Aotearoa, the move from metered to unmetered internet is a big part of what made it affordable to the average person. The introduction of metered mobile data then created a 2-tier internet. Where some people have unmetered WiFi at home, and can use the net with no time or data limits. While other people can only use the net as much as they can afford mobile credit.

IMHO we need to be pushing for universalisation of unmetered internet. So coming up with better ways of metered internet doesn't excited me that much. Sorry. 

 you want free access, i.e. communism? 
If not, you need to pay, and there's only two ways to pay, either unlimited data within a paid time window, or per amount of data, time window being irrelevant (mostly, might have expiration).