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Time Warner is Making the Internet More Expensive

posted by Caroling Lee on April 02, 2009 | comment

In case you haven't heard, Time Warner Cable is bringing their new tiered pricing system to Austin/San Antonio that will be based on bandwidth usage. Each user/customer will have a 'gas gauge' to measure and track their own usage - kind of like cell phone minutes. ETA - this summer....

What does this mean for you/us/the Internet? This pay-as-you-go pricing will mean that heavy users could pay considerably more than they are paying now (any amount over 40 GB will be charged at $1 per additional GB). If you like downloading movies, TV, songs, or even large documents - you'll be affected.

Moreover, what does this mean for business? We're on Time Warner and I'm already thinking about how a business like ours will be affected. Granted we're not downloading movies, but the sheer number of people on the network on this new pricing system could greatly impact costs. Does this mean we have to keep track of whether we downloaded that document more than once? I know I don't want to have to monitor my usage - that's just another stress to deal with in an already complicated world.

In theory, the TWC pricing change makes sense to them, but what about the consumer backlash? I'm not sure its worth it. Seems like Grande and other providers are now poised to be the good guy and welcome TWC defectors without having to lift a finger. I have Grande at home and love it - great service, good pricing, and they're local.

(Not sure if there are penalties to get out of existing contracts with TWC yet.)

The blogosphere in Austin has already exploded with negative reaction towards TWC with threats and declarations to move away to other providers like AT&T. See Omar Gallaga's post.

What do you think? Leave us a comment.

Comments

#1 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 02, 2009

Great post Caroling. I just wanted to chime in that AT&T U-Verse has been a great option for me at home.

#2 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 03, 2009

A handful of sites have started popping up with more information on what the public can do to voice their opinions. You can also find some stats on various web-based activities that’ll eat up TWC’s proposed bandwidth limits.

Stop TWC - http://stoptwc.info/
Drop Time Warner Cable - http://droptimewarnercable.com/

I previously was a TWC customer, but switched to AT&T U-Verse last year and I’m very pleased with their services (it blows TWC out of the water).

#3 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 07, 2009

Caroling,

Good info. I agree with you about Grande. We use Grande at home, and we have been really pleased. My husband, Bill, works from home and the service Grande provides has been perfect for both his work needs and our home use.

I’ve heard that Grande isn’t offered everywhere in Austin yet, but I hope they expand their service areas in the upcoming months.

#4 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 13, 2009

Thanks for posting C. The POA board will look into how this might impact our blanket agreement with TWC. We have a multi-year contract with VERY good rates. Appears that could change with what you’ve described.

Adam

#5 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 13, 2009

Adam,
Thanks for letting us know about that. TradeMark has a multi-year contract as well and I was wondering about that last week. One would think if they change their service, it would invalidate the contract, but I’m not exactly counting on that. Scary! I’ll let you know if I find out anything else
Sarah

#6 from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 19, 2009

I would like to counter Time Warner’s logic:
TW claims that people who use far more bandwidth should pay more for it.

If they believe that argument, they should charge me lot less for my cable since I watch hardly any TV compared to an average American. Would they do that? Oh Noooo!