Time Warner Cable Will Uncap Service for $150
Posted 04/13/09 at 04:37:01 PM by Andy Salisbury
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It wasn’t long ago that numerous tech news sources (including us) reported on Time Warner’s miniscule bandwidth caps, and it would seem that all this press caught the attention of some higher ups within the ISP.
Landel Hobbs, Time Warner Cable’s Chief Operating Officer, wrote a lengthy reply to those that had reported on the matter. “Some recent press reports about our four consumption based billing trials planned for later this year were premature and did not tell the full story,” he states. “With that said, we realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused. We’ve heard the passionate feedback and we’ve taken action to address our customers’ concerns.”
The post continues to paint a picture where the ISP is stuck in a situation where the growing demand of the Internet causes them to charge such enormous rates and cap users at such small amounts of bandwidth. The post divulges, “…at Time Warner Cable, consumption among our high-speed Internet subscribers is increasing by about 40% a year.”
Strangely enough, at a later point where Mr. Hobbs is dissecting the reasoning behind a very small, very cheap 1GB capped plan for $15 a month he mentions, “Our usage data show that about 30% of our customers use less than 1 GB per month.” Hm.
Self-contradictions aside, the reasoning behind capping the bandwidth does hold some water, it’s just unfortunate that they should come at such colossal prices. If you’re interested in reading the whole message, be sure to check it out here.
Image Credit: Time Warner Cable
If you want to say something....
Submitted by jerk01 on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 6:26am
Say it to them! I just forwarded this email to all my friends, telling them what's up. Send em an email and let them know how you feel.
realideas@twcable.com
Do it.
pure effin extortion.
Submitted by xs0u1x on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 6:57am
pure effin extortion.
This just exposes Time
Submitted by DBsantos77 on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 7:02pm
This just exposes Time Warner's greed even more.
Wait a moment, Time Warner is doing something novel here.
Submitted by QUINTIX256 on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 6:26pm
Overage price caps. To quote Time Warner's wording exactly, "Overage charges will be capped at $75 per month." This is something cell phone companies should be required to do by law. It is all too easy for wireless data plan overages and "roaming" charges to go into the thousands of dollars. Not only that, but when such things do happen the telcos honestly expect such customers to pay up, no matter how ludicrous the price is. See /article/news/att_charges_woman_5_large_overage_charges_gets_sued
You can have your recession. I'm not participating.
Submitted by Psybear on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 5:14pm
FIOS
If only everyone were so
Submitted by I Jedi on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 8:19pm
If only everyone were so fortunate to have FiOS or other major ISP's in their area, rather than one dominant one.
Submitted by teh 1337 haxxor on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 4:57pm
The way I see it, TWC is trying to eliminate competition from online streaming media services such as hulu and netflix. By watching streaming content on the internet, we're watching less cable TV, and thus fewer commercials that allow TWC to generate revenue. To stop this, TWC is going to a) increase what we pay for high speed internet and b) limit how much online streaming media we can watch over the internet. Increasing what we pay for high speed internet is going to generate more revenue right off the bat. Limiting bandwidth will ensure that we keep watching cable TV, and not online streaming media. It is absolutely ridiculous that we should have to pay for service like netflix TWICE. Once to netflix for the services, and the second time to TWC for the bandwidth. TWC is out of f*cking line and something needs to be done about this bullsh*t.
TWC MUST provide a way to monitor how much bandwidth you have left in realtime.
Submitted by NAYRhyno on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 4:06pm
The fact that they are "allowing" unlimited bandwidth for $150 is a joke. I live in one of the test
areas. The current 10/1Mbps unlimited service is $40 a month. The $150 figure comes from the new price scheme where 60 GB/month is $75, and the maximum overage charge is $75 dollars. That is no way to serve unlimited usage. The Comcast 250GB usage cap is reasonable, and users over 250GB per month at this point in time are a strain on the network; 40GB/month is not a strain on the network it is average usage when streaming television is used.The real story is that none of the test markets have any real significant competitors. The DSL provider in my market has announced they will go cap free, but their service is just not as fast. It is advertised as 10/1Mbps, but it does not perform up to par with cable.
The other side of this story is the fact that they claim these price jacks and caps are “tests,” and that they need to extra funds for DOCCIS 3.0 infrastructure. When asked if the caps would be reexamined after DOCCIS 3 was rolled out at our expense, they had no comment.
Submitted by Pyrophorics on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 4:01pm
!@#$ them.
Submitted by AndyYankee17 on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 3:03pm
what are the overage fees? or do they just cut you off?
Submitted by I Jedi on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 3:23pm
15 the first gigabyte over and I think 2 dollars for every additional gigabyte.
Submitted by Captain on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 2:44pm
The cap on peoples internet will make live streaming for the folks at 4 player podcast, near impossible, because of the cost and the fact that their only internet is that or slower at&t. i hate this new idea, its nearly as bad as the plan to make people pay by their mileage, not per gallon. greedy bastards.
Submitted by I Jedi on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 2:30pm
Goodbuy TimeWarner.. Hello AT&T (even if it's DSL, at least I can go over 40GB!) I use to dislike Comcast for their bad acts in the past and still frown upon it, even if they don't do it anymore. However, I wish they were in my area... 250GB a month is way better than TW 40.
OMFG
Submitted by salivatx on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 8:46am
[img]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/salivatx/Salsig.gif[/img]
The first time I get an overage bill they can kiss my service goodbye. I got enough to worry about. I dont need to be concerned with how many GB's I've downloaded before I reach my limit.
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