Ready For Metered Internet?

[Praxeas]

TW is going to be doing a trial run in Texas of Metered Internet Access.

It will be like Cell phone usage. If you go over a certain amount of data transfer then you will be charged 1$ for each gig after that.

This is only with cable.

If you have an always on cable connection then everytime you turn your PC on you probably are downloading data. Windows downloads data. Virus scanners do. Then when you visit a website you download data....

What do you think?

[pelathais]

It's a rip off. It's just a way that the marketing people are trying to raise revenues now that growth in subscriptions has flattened out.

[RandyWayne]

I don't disagree with the philosophy behind putting a cap on net use but the caps seem awfully low. 5 gigs for a 768 Kbps and 40 for a 15 Mbps download plan? Comcast says the worst of worst bandwidth users on their networks are routinely exceeding 200-250 gigs a month. Why not make it 10 for the cheap plan and at least 100 for the top? That won't effect any possible software downloading and web surfing but WILL effect those who keep their bit torrent clients online 24.7.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

I don't disagree with the philosophy behind putting a cap on net use but the caps seem awfully low. 5 gigs for a 768 Kbps and 40 for a 15 Mbps download plan? Comcast says the worst of worst bandwidth users on their networks are routinely exceeding 200-250 gigs a month. Why not make it 10 for the cheap plan and at least 100 for the top? That won't effect any possible software downloading and web surfing but WILL effect those who keep their bit torrent clients online 24.7.

I once sucked up about 200 GBs one month - but it was part of as deliberate plan to overthrow the government of an unnamed nation on another continent. I uploaded something in the terabytes. Comcast throttled me for a while after that.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

TW is going to be doing a trial run in Texas of Metered Internet Access.

It will be like Cell phone usage. If you go over a certain amount of data transfer then you will be charged 1$ for each gig after that.

This is only with cable.

If you have an always on cable connection then everytime you turn your PC on you probably are downloading data. Windows downloads data. Virus scanners do. Then when you visit a website you download data....

What do you think?

I have been reading where the explosive growth in TV online, YouTube, etc has really been causing congestion on the internet.

For that reason I am not surprised at this concept but I am disappointed.

They should be spending their energy and resources towards figuring out how to increase the internet bandwidth, etc rather than trying to limit it.

Up til now the internet has been a great level playing ground where a small church with an A/V department can air a webcast just as a major Hollywood Studio or TV network can and both can have the expectation that their webcast will be availabel to as wide an audience as possible.

We may end up with broadband access to webcasts becoming so expensive that only more affluent folks can enjoy that while common folks are limited to more basic use of the internet. That would be a shame.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by CC1

I have been reading where the explosive growth in TV online, YouTube, etc has really been causing congestion on the internet.

For that reason I am not surprised at this concept but I am disappointed.

They should be spending their energy and resources towards figuring out how to increase the internet bandwidth, etc rather than trying to limit it.

Up til now the internet has been a great level playing ground where a small church with an A/V department can air a webcast just as a major Hollywood Studio or TV network can and both can have the expectation that their webcast will be availabel to as wide an audience as possible.

We may end up with broadband access to webcasts becoming so expensive that only more affluent folks can enjoy that while common folks are limited to more basic use of the internet. That would be a shame.

BTW according to the article I read DSL does not have this issue and I am assuming FIOS does not either. Cable always had a rap for bottleneck when several users in an area were using it. However the point you bring out is important. High bandwidth useage is not simply just about file swapping like Bit Torrent.

It's part of their entertainment or even education with watching video at Youtube or even online schools...soon we will be doing TV and we can already download movies to watch rather than go to blockbuster....at some point that is going to make Cable too expensive to have. I would opt for DSL even at a slower rate and wait for FIOS.