How the cost of connectivity might defeat paywall economics

There is a great deal of talk about paywalls but what about another side of the equation,the cost of connectivity?

In a really good article from David Johnson over at Poynter,the author argues that

With each new device, and each new connection to the grid, the consumers are coming to the marketplace with less money in their pocket, because the cost of simply being on the grid has skyrocketed in the past 10 years.

So the thesis goes once the consumer gets to the net,are they really going to be willing to pay for content?

And here is the crux of the agrument

They paid for delivery of the newspaper or a magazine. They paid for the convenience and freedom of buying a single copy at the newsstand. They paid for better television reception when cable emerged. They paid for faster Internet performance when broadband was introduced. They paid for more functionality with smart phones. But they only pay for content when it is exclusive and of a certain quality.