Time Warner trying usage-based billing in Texas
- January 17th, 2008
- 6 Comments
I’ll be damned, they’re actually doing it.
Time Warner will be testing out a pay-for-what-you-use program for its high speed Internet service in Beaumont, Texas. This, based on findings that about 5 percent of the network’s users account for more than half the bandwidth.
Here’s the problem, though. What happens when all the high-bandwidth users leave for the nearest competitor? You know, the competitor that offers unlimited bandwidth? Only in places where Time Warner has little-to-no competition (like Beaumont, coincidentally) will this work.
I’m not keen on usage-based because, like many of you, I use a LOT of bandwidth. Do I think my parents should pay the same as me, though? I guess not, but they’ve come to terms with the fact that high speed Internet access costs $50 per month and I’m pretty sure they don’t think it’s unfair that I use more of it than they do.
On that note, I’ll be VERY interested to see how much the lowest-bandwidth-using people end up saving each month. If they go from paying $50 down to $20, I’ll be mightily impressed. Given our cable companies’ penchant for making money hand over fist, however, I’m not too sure we’ll see those big numbers. I’m guessing it’ll be more along the lines that mom and dad pay $35 while Johnny BitTorrent gets a $150 bill, instead of both parties each paying $50. Here’s to proving me wrong, though.
Time Warner to test Internet billing based on usage [Reuters]
Sundaram (Who am I?)
7 months ago
In Montreal we are already paying based on usage.
Basic (up to 600kbs)$27/month
High Speed (up to 7mbps)$39/month
Extreme High Speed (up to 10mbsp)$65/month
Extreme Plus High Speed (up to 20mbsp)$80/month
You can see details at http://www.videotron.com/services/static/en/pdf/High_Speed_Internet_Summary.pdf
It is not as bad as I thought it would be. I have the Extreme High Speed and it is more than enough for my needs at a fair price. While my Dad has the high speed package and seems to be satisfied.
Anonymous
7 months ago
Sundaram,
You are not charged by usage, you are charged by speed. This is normal and acceptable. You can download as much as you want at 10Mbps. What Time Warner wants to do is say you pay $5 per 500MB you download. $5 is just a random number by the way. This is not ok with me and I really hope they do not succeed.
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Alex (Who am I?)
7 months ago
I could go for that. I’m basically a light user. Seems only fair to have the heavier users pay more…or me pay less…whatever. I’d also like to pay a la carte for my cable tv. Why the heck am I paying for all those channels I never watch?
vijay
7 months ago
This will basically kill the HD/DVD download future. While a handful of bitTorrent Joes might be responsible for heavy internet usage now, with the advent of downloadable movies, everyone would essentially become a heavy user. And as Doug mentions, it will eventually end up being that you still pay too much. Just like the minimum 35$ cost for a cell phone line even if you only end up using 100 minutes.
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Sundaram (Who am I?)
7 months ago
Anonymous,
My Bad you are right i did post the speed instead of usage click the link to see “monthly capacity”
Basic (1Gb/1GB)$27/month
High Speed (20Gb/10GB)$39/month
Extreme High Speed (100 Gb combined)$65/month
Extreme Plus High Speed (20Gb/10GB)$80/month
beavis (Who am I?)
7 months ago
thats the worst idea there just a bunch of greedy pigs