Internet provider to test billing on usage, rather than flat fee

[SpiritWarrior]

"Time Warner Cable Inc said on Wednesday it is planning a trial to bill high-speed Internet subscribers based on their amount of usage rather than a flat fee, the standard industry practice.

The second largest U.S. cable operator said it will test consumption-based billing with subscribers in Beaumont, Texas later this year as a part of a strategy to help reduce congestion of its network by a minority of consumers who pay the same monthly fee as light users.

The company believes the billing system will impact only heavy users, who account for around 5 percent of all customers but typically use more than half of the total network bandwidth, according to a company spokesman.

Slowing network congestion due to downloading of large media files such as video is a growing problem for Time Warner Cable. The company said the problem will worsen as video downloading becomes more popular.

But the move could prove controversial. Unlike with utility bills such as the phone or electricity, which have traditionally been based on usage, U.S. high-speed Internet subscribers have come to expect a fixed monthly charge. An Internet bill typically only varies based on the speed of the consumer's Internet access.

Time Warner Cable, which has 7.4 million residential Internet subscribers, is hoping the move will not confuse consumers if introduced nationwide and is planning a trial period.

"Largely, people won't notice the difference," said the Time Warner Cable spokesman. "We don't want customers to feel they're getting less for more." News of Time Warner Cable's plans was originally leaked on an online industry forum BroadbandReports.com.

Other cable operators may follow Time Warner Cable's lead and phone companies such as Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc are likely to be watching the New York-based cable operator's plans.

As U.S. consumers have become more used to streaming and downloading digital media over the Web, their Internet service providers have started to come under pressure to be able to keep up with growing demand in a cost-effective manner.

Comcast Corp, the largest cable operator with around 13 million Internet subscribers, has been accused by consumer groups of blocking Web traffic moving across its networks, prompting a notice of inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this week.

Comcast denies it blocks any Internet traffic saying it uses bandwidth management technology to help improve the customer experience but which may slow down some file transfers"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/...er_internet_dc

I know they say most won't notice a difference but I hope this crap doesn't catch on. I thought the days of pay per use were long gone. Also bearing in mind that other broadband companies are eyeing this closely such as At&T and Comcast to see the results. They said the only ones who will notice a difference are heavy internet users. Well I guess that means a lot of us cuz my internet is always on and I like it that way :-/

[Firestormalpha]

Didn't they try that when dial up first started, then they changed it within like a year.

[SpiritWarrior]

Oh it was a few years. Dial up was excusive and costly back in the day. I just think this is a step backward though.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

If they give a choice, I think it's good. Save the poor person who's only on a few hours per month some $$$.

[LordKathen]

Originally Posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood If they give a choice, I think it's good. Save the poor person who's only on a few hours per month some $$$.

I agree. It will give alot of people the opportunity to have high speed. But make it a choice definitely.

[toot033]

I would hate to see the bills that some of the WOW regulars will get if this goes through.

[dplax]

WoW doesn't use that much bandwidth...downloading films and music does...

[Bungleau]

Foolish.... they need to offer tiers, and throttle down the speed of those who want cheap access.

Otherwise, someone else is going to come in and offer it for a bit less, and they lose anyway.

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by Bungleau Foolish.... they need to offer tiers, and throttle down the speed of those who want cheap access. Otherwise, someone else is going to come in and offer it for a bit less, and they lose anyway.

BINGO! Before Windstream took over Alltel, they had a three tier program. Now however, Windstream has a 4 tier program in our area;
1. Home light 750K = 19.95
2. Home medium 1.5K = 29.95
3. Home high 3.0M = 35.95
4. Home extreme 6.0M = 50 something

A lot of folks that I know who download the "must haves" use the 6.0 and say it's "awesome", many music files are finished before they can get the folder destination distributed, and movie files are seconds to the minute now.

I'm sure this caught somebodies eyes?!

[LordKathen]

I pay 21.95 for 3.0M a month.