Time Warner Cable to Test Internet Caps in Texas

[I]Tiered Cable Modem Plans Aimed at Heaviest Broadband Users[/I]
By Todd Spangler – Multichannel News, 1/17/2008 1:52:00 PM

Time Warner Cable is targeting the small number of subscribers who eat up most of its Internet bandwidth, with plans to test a new tiered pricing structure for broadband access later this year in Beaumont, Texas, that will charge customers based on how much data they download.

[B]The operator plans to offer four different packages that would cap monthly data downloads at 5, 10, 20 or 40 Gigabytes, according to Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley.[/B] As of yet, there’s no unlimited option planned for the trial. Pricing has not been determined for the tiers, he said.

The tiered pricing would apply only to new customers, not existing ones. If customers exceed their data-download limit, they will be charged additional per-gigabyte fees. “It’s kind of like a cell phone plan,” Dudley said.

The Beaumont system provides service to around 90,000 voice, video and data subscribers in 15 towns. In the region, the operator currently offers unlimited-usage broadband service for $44.95 to cable TV customers and $54.95 to non-TV subscribers.

The goal of the trial is to improve overall network performance by setting usage limits for the 5% of subscribers who use more than 50% of total network bandwidth, Dudley said. “A very small number of users is using an incredibly large percentage of the bandwidth,” he said.

Time Warner Cable has not determined when it will initiate the test, according to Dudley, except that it likely will be sometime in the second quarter.

Some cable operators already set limits on the maximum amount of data subscribers can download.

[B]Cox Communications, for example, caps downloads at 40 Gbytes downstream and uploads at 10 Gbytes upstream per month for its “preferred” broadband package[/B], and at 60 Gbytes down and 15 Gbytes up for the “premier” plan.

Comcast’s policy is to issue warnings to users who consume too much bandwidth. While it does not define data thresholds, Comcast has said a subscriber who downloads more than 1,000 songs per day would trigger a warning to cut back on usage.

I think I could break 40GB in one week if I bothered keeping my torrent client up.

[QUOTE=NinerAdvocate;285888][I]Tiered Cable Modem Plans Aimed at Heaviest Broadband Users[/I]
By Todd Spangler – Multichannel News, 1/17/2008 1:52:00 PM

Time Warner Cable is targeting the small number of subscribers who eat up most of its Internet bandwidth, with plans to test a new tiered pricing structure for broadband access later this year in Beaumont, Texas, that will charge customers based on how much data they download.

[B]The operator plans to offer four different packages that would cap monthly data downloads at 5, 10, 20 or 40 Gigabytes, according to Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley.[/B] As of yet, there’s no unlimited option planned for the trial. Pricing has not been determined for the tiers, he said.

The tiered pricing would apply only to new customers, not existing ones. If customers exceed their data-download limit, they will be charged additional per-gigabyte fees. “It’s kind of like a cell phone plan,” Dudley said.

The Beaumont system provides service to around 90,000 voice, video and data subscribers in 15 towns. In the region, the operator currently offers unlimited-usage broadband service for $44.95 to cable TV customers and $54.95 to non-TV subscribers.

The goal of the trial is to improve overall network performance by setting usage limits for the 5% of subscribers who use more than 50% of total network bandwidth, Dudley said. “A very small number of users is using an incredibly large percentage of the bandwidth,” he said.

Time Warner Cable has not determined when it will initiate the test, according to Dudley, except that it likely will be sometime in the second quarter.

Some cable operators already set limits on the maximum amount of data subscribers can download.

[B]Cox Communications, for example, caps downloads at 40 Gbytes downstream and uploads at 10 Gbytes upstream per month for its “preferred” broadband package[/B], and at 60 Gbytes down and 15 Gbytes up for the “premier” plan.

Comcast’s policy is to issue warnings to users who consume too much bandwidth. While it does not define data thresholds, Comcast has said a subscriber who downloads more than 1,000 songs per day would trigger a warning to cut back on usage.[/QUOTE]

Yeah thats a little to close to home for me. I upload a large amount of Data through FTP for my business at my house, I may have to switch to a T1 if they try this in Austin. Good thing money grows on cow terds.

[QUOTE=NinerAdvocate;285888]
The tiered pricing would apply only to new customers, not existing ones. [/QUOTE]

Thats the only good news I see here, but if this test goes well (meaning is saves them more money than is costs to implement the limits) it’s only a matter of time before they start applying it in other cities and to existing customers.

Stupid Time Warner… they just went up on digital cable rates too. I’d say they have the worst customer service of any company I’ve ever dealt with (took them 6 trips to my house to get the cable working last time I moved). I really wish we had FIOS or some other solid option for tv/internet/phone in Charlotte.

Verizon FiOs cannot get here soon enough, but they are gonna piss people off when they show up because they have to sign subscribers up ASAP to defray their incredible startup costs. I’ve heard their marketing is absolutely relentless in new markets.

It’s a kick butt affordable product though. Should be able to get much faster internet and tons of HD tv for slightly less money. Plus VoIP/phone.

NA, do you know if Verizon has any plans to bring FIOS to Charlotte?

They have a map of current and furture markets and we are a “future” dot, last time I checked. One of a small number of planned expansions.

BTW - I haven’t kept up on it, but I remember that when it first started, they had to rewire your phone service lines for FIOS and that it was “impossible” to switch back. If they show up here soon, might wanna check into that.

[URL=http://www.fiberexperts.com/fios-review.html]http://www.fiberexperts.com/fios-review.html[/URL]

FiOS reviews. Big hardware install (read that 2nd review), but very, very good performance with no latency/lag on internet or TV (“zero ping”).

And here’s FiOS’ current national channel lineup (I undretsand that some markets have more than this):

[URL=http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm]http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm[/URL]

All the Fox sports, etc are part of the standard package. I can’t find CSTV on there though.

Scroll down to their HD lineup. They also have the movie channels in HD (premium).

Thanks for the info NA. I remember reading something about a year ago that said Charlotte probably wouldn’t be a market that Verizon would go after anytime soon. I can’t remember the exact reason and I can’t remember where I read that so who knows. It can’t happen soon enough in my opinion.

The phone jacks in my house don’t work with my TW digital phone line anyways. They are supposed to, but of course the tech couldn’t get it working. 90% of those guys they send out are worthless.

Also, I hear TW-Charlotte is slowly migrating to a new Navigator software program for the digital cable boxes that is much slower and has fewer features than the current software. I haven’t seen it yet, but the people who have it already don’t seem to like it much.

Time Warner wants Fios here as much as anyone because we can use the lines. Utilities lines are open to any regulated company.

I am so glad I have DSL right now. My use varies, but I play games online (PS3) and download media with iTunes or bittorrent, so it could be come an issue at some point. I just worry that if they adopt this for their service area, then other companies will look at it as well.

I don’t have a problem with the download cap for the people who want it (like my grandma, who doesn’t need 40GB of download b/w and really shouldn’t have to pay for it). However, charging us extra when we go over a ‘cap’ is total crap.

I hate TW.

My dad has had to deal with this crap for a few years with Wildblue Satellite Broadband. They place caps on you, but with pretty decent usage, he’s never had any problems.