Time Warner Cable has recently expanded its program of capping broadband internet usage, something it has been testing in Texas for some time now. The recent expansion includes some upstate markets like Rochester.
Web users, the meter is running. In a strategy that's likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors, Time Warner Cable is pressing ahead with a plan to charge Internet customers based on how much Web data they consume. Starting next month, the company will introduce tiered pricing in several markets.
In April, Time Warner Cable will begin collecting information on its customers' Internet use in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio and in Rochester, N.Y. Consumption billing will begin in those cities later this summer. In Greensboro, N.C., the billing changes will begin sooner. Spun off from Time Warner this month, Time Warner Cable had been testing a plan to meter Internet usage in Beaumont, Tex., since last year.
By charging a premium to the heaviest broadband users, much the same way cell-phone providers collect fees from subscribers who exceed their allotted minutes, Time Warner would upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers. Typically, phone and cable companies charge flat fees for unlimited access to the Web. "We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt says in an interview. "We made a mistake early on by not defining our business based on the consumption dimension." Time Warner Cable has 8.4 million broadband customers.
Congressman Eric Massa is having none of this and makes an interesting and I think effective argument against the practice. From an emailed press release:
Today Congressman Eric Massa announced his opposition to Time Warner's monopolistic plan to charge customers for broadband internet based on the amount of information they download. Time Warner's decision to make this move is part of an ill-conceived test marketing plan which will charge customers for internet usage much like cell phones. The problem is that by doing so, broadband internet users' usage will obviously take a steep decline or else middle income families will see outrageous internet bills.
"Just at a time when access to information is driving our economic recovery, Time Warner is moving to stagnate the 21st Century technology needed to rebuild America," said Congressman Eric Massa.
Additionally, now that the internet has become an essential communications tool used by most Americans, there are broad and sweeping First Amendment issues at stake as well.
"Internet access is as essential to our economy as water is to our survival," said Congressman Eric Massa. "With limited choices in broadband providers, and virtual monopolies in many market areas, I view this as nothing more than a large corporation making a move to force customers into paying more money. I firmly oppose capping internet usage and I will be taking a leadership role in stopping this outrageous, job killing initiative."
Killing such a plan legislatively will be a real tough undertaking, but it's one worth pursuing. Massa is correct that this is a bad plan and one that is especially unhelpful in the middle of a recession that is further depressing the upstate economy.
I wish Massa luck with this. He's going to need it. |
