ATTN: Time Waner customers

[Shelly]

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Expands-Metered-Billing-101655

Time Warner Cable Expands Metered Billing
Rochester, Austin, Greensboro and San Antonio...
10:48AM Wednesday Apr 01 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · bandwidth · Op/Ed · cable · RoadRunner Cable
Back in January of 2008 we were the very first to report that Time Warner Cable was conducting a trial in their Beaumont, Texas market that imposed caps ranging from 5GB to 40GB on the company's existing tiers of service. More controversial perhaps was the news that trial participants would be charged $1 per every additional gigabyte consumed, a huge markup for Time Warner Cable over cost, and a first for a major US ISP.



Back in February, Time Warner Cable told us they'd be expanding this project into four additional markets, and that they'd be raising the limits on some of the trial caps in response to user complaints. This morning Time Warner Cable gave Business Week an exclusive scoop, informing them that the four markets will be Rochester, NY, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Greensboro, North Carolina. Business Week even gets exclusive face time with CEO Glenn Britt, so the cable boss can frame the decision to overbill you just the way he'd like it:
"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."
As usual, Britt tries to suggest that Time Warner Cable's existing flat-rate pricing model isn't "viable" enough to fund essential infrastructure upgrades. That's simply not the case. The company has been very profitable under the flat-rate model, and they've consistently found creative new ways to generate additional income, such as with DNS redirection advertising, which creates a revenue stream out of your URL typing mistakes.

In reality, Britt is pursuing metered billing because it gives him a way to monetize and/or control Internet video, which poses a very serious long term threat to his cable television revenues. The pressure to shift to metered billing also comes from investors, who obviously love the idea of charging consumers more money for the same (or less) service in an age where the cost of bandwidth and network hardware continues to drop. Keep in mind that Time Warner Cable has yet to officially announce DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades in a single market.

Where the trials go from here isn't exactly clear. Judging from the Business Week report, Time Warner has yet to increase the highest 40GB cap in these trial markets; a ridiculous decision for any carrier in the age of HD video delivery -- much less one that's facing growing competition from TelcoTV alternatives. "Rest assured that there will be a super-tier at approximately 100GB," a company spokesman tells me.


The question remains: will metered billing only be something Time Warner Cable imposes on less competitive markets, where limited choices mean consumers can't vote with their wallets? Or do company executives really think they can bring 40GB (or even 100GB) caps to bear in markets where they compete with uncapped (so far) and speedier Verizon FiOS?

So far they're avoiding "big red" markets like the plague.

All five of these trial markets have limited or no FiOS availability. Rochester is home to financially-troubled Frontier, who (judging from posts to our forums) can barely offer consumers more than 3Mbps, and has been exploring 5GB caps. The other Time Warner Cable trial markets are in AT&T territory. AT&T is also testing metered billing, imposing caps from 20 to 150GB in two trial markets, charging customers $1 per gigabyte in overage fees.

And there's the rub: a national migration from flat rate to metered billing will only succeed if carriers work together to institute obnoxiously low caps and painfully expensive overage fees. Otherwise, the un-metered competitor in a metered market can highlight how Time Warner Cable, Frontier or AT&T is being a cheapskate, charging users an insanely high markup on bandwidth over cost. Of course, if you don't have many other viable competitors (and change the laws to keep it that way), you can do, well, whatever the hell you'd like.

In markets where competitors aren't playing along with the idea, or the carrier faces pressure from municipal fiber builds, Time Warner Cable's decision could border on seppuku.

[Blake]

just another reason to hate time warner

[SpursStalker]

Grande is much better ....

[Thunder Dan]

just another reason to hate time warner

there is no reason to discriminate against Time Warner

[Melmart1]

Ugh. I told my roommate we shouldn't have switched to RoadRunner. I wonder if he has some sort of contract. I hope not, so we can go back to ATT.

[MsMcGillyCutty]

Grande is much better ....

Always.

[JudynTX]

I have AT & T. I guess they will be next.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

I have AT & T. I guess they will be next.they better not.

[JudynTX]

they better not.

Well I hope they don't. My sister's keep telling us to get their U-VERSE. TW's digital cable sucks donkey balls sometimes. :bang

[BacktoBasics]

Why the fuck do they not have FOX HD. I hate TW.

[JudynTX]

Why the fuck do they not have FOX HD. I hate TW.

I don't know, but I never stop on that channel. :lol

[leemajors]

this is incredibly lame. my roomate and i could hit 40GB per month just playing team fortress 2

[Melmart1]

I work from home and do a lot of emailing and research. Between that and catching up with tv shows on hulu and stuff, I can't imagine what the overage would be. And that doesn't include my roommate, who recently (accidentally, I think) admitted his fondness for internet porn :lol

[Dr. Gonzo]

I'm switching to ATT. Fuck those caps. I probably download about 40GB worth of stuff a week.

[Blake]

there is no reason to discriminate against Time Warner

yes there is. They don't have NFL Network, they jack up prices without warning and they have poor customer service.

Big difference between that and the way you discriminate against different races.

[BlackSwordsMan]

grande>

[Blake]

grande>

Ive heard nothing but good things about grande. I wish they were in my area.

[Melmart1]

grande>

Grande doesn't serve me neighborhood.

[Whisky Dog]

What is a better alternative for the Dallas market?

[JoeChalupa]

I don't watch that much TV but I am thinking of going Uverse once my price thingy is over with TW.

[BacktoBasics]

What is a better alternative for the Dallas market?I don't know about the "better" part but Comcast is out in that area.

[leemajors]

I don't watch that much TV but I am thinking of going Uverse once my price thingy is over with TW.

i didn't enter into a pricelock agreement and pay for RR turbo to have a cap imposed on me. I'm gonna get out of this if it's for real. U-Verse is offering $200 rebate anyway.

[dimsah]

I don't know about the "better" part but Comcast is out in that area.

Comcast traded most of their Texas markets to TW for markets further east.
The only real presence is near Houston.

Change that. They do still have a small market in Dallas but it doesn't service a very large area.

[Dr. Gonzo]

I just talked to a TW rep and they said that they don't know when it's actually going to start. He also said it's only in the planning stages so it may be a couple of months before they even go ahead with it.

Fuck them either way.

[BruceBowenFan]

fuck looks like i have to cut back xbox live.

[Tony Sinclair]

I switched to AT&T last year.

[Dex]

I'm supposed to be "locked in" to my deal for the next 2 years, so I'd like to hear their bullshit excuse if they try to change me. I'm sure they've got some fine print on their side somewhere, though.

If they cap, I'll switch. AT&T sends me mail every goddamn week.

[PM5K]

We should all find a freeware bandwidth monitoring software to see what we actually use.

My router actually logs my bandwidth and I can tell you that on average, which means I'm not doing anything super bandwidth hungry, I use about 700MB per day.

The problem is that I do other things that are bandwidth hungry, last month I used approximately 80GB which means I'd be selling body parts to pay if San Antonio was already metered.

I do have Road Runner Turbo, and if it doesn't have a higher cap limit I will shit my pants, but I'll talk about that in another post.

I put up that number of 700MB because it comes out to about 20GB monthly, and I think that would be a really easy number for your average Joe to get to.

[PM5K]

Dex: I agree with you, I have a price-lock guaranty that means I can't do anything that would lower my monthly bill, I can't remove any services, and Time Warner is fucking nuts if they think they are going to impose a cap on my usage while I have that price-lock guaranty.

[MannyIsGod]

I just switchd to them several months back because it was much cheaper than AT&T - if they impose a cap I'm simply moving back to AT&T considering they send me mail all the time asking me to go back.

[PM5K]

Just for fun, my previous months bandwidth usage:

87GB
68GB
52GB
87GB
30GB (- 4 Days)

[JoeChalupa]

Just for fun, my previous months bandwidth usage:

87GB
68GB
52GB
87GB
30GB (- 4 Days)

Is that on your bill? I'm clueless.
I'm also getting ready to drop my land line.

[JudynTX]

The internet should be free. Fing ridiculous what we pay to surf. :bang

[Dex]

Dex: I agree with you, I have a price-lock guaranty that means I can't do anything that would lower my monthly bill, I can't remove any services, and Time Warner is fucking nuts if they think they are going to impose a cap on my usage while I have that price-lock guaranty.

Exactly.

If I'm locked in for two years, they better be locked in for two years, otherwise they better rip up their stupid contract.

[PM5K]

Is that on your bill? I'm clueless.
I'm also getting ready to drop my land line.

No, I believe I said before that my wireless router monitors bandwidth usage.

I also said that we should find some freeware bandwidth monitoring software so we can all get an idea of what we use.

[jcrod]

Everyone saying they'll go to AT&T will get the same cap, they're also talking about doing the samething.

I'm like others, i'm locked in on a price. I work from home and better get options to have a higher cap. I wish Verizon was here.

[BacktoBasics]

A better idea would be to burn TW down.

[LockBeard]

Last straw for me with TW.

[Melmart1]

I wonder how many people cancelling it would take for them to reconsider. Probably too many, but I would assume there is some threshold they have in mind in terms of how many customers you are willing to lose over a beta test.

[BacktoBasics]

I wonder how many people cancelling it would take for them to reconsider. Probably too many, but I would assume there is some threshold they have in mind in terms of how many customers you are willing to lose over a beta test.Even if the number was modest they'll never get close. People are lazy and they're banking on the masses shelling out more money rather than go through the process of switching.

[z0sa]

seems like an uber shitload to me (40GB), but I don't download movies or anything.

[FromWayDowntown]

On the phone with my customer service rep, I asked: does Time Warner provide a place for you to check your conscience before you start to work?

His response: "I've never heard of a room like that."

[TDMVPDPOY]

hahaha fuck that shit, avoid plans with caps and peak/offpeak shit and plans that count uploads towards the cap

its fukn bs

most of the time its the fukn company that holds most of the countrys internet infrastructure or a monopoly in the market...fuck that shit.

im payin AUS$80 (US$56) 25GB PLAN down here with the monopoly, sure i can look around for a better product/service, but i prefer to talk to white ppl on the other end of the line when i have problems with the service, than dealing with some outsource person from asia. fuck the monopoly.

[exstatic]

If TW does this, I simply up my t-mobile phone from pre-paid to a monthly non-contract plan of at least $40, get a t-mobile@home landline and router for $10 a month, and drop TWC phone service. It would net out about the same as an capped TWC plan, but t-mobile gets the extra money, not TWC, and I get more mobile phone flexability.

[Destro]

I think they scared shitless of the Netflix Roku player, Amazon video rental, and of course HuLu. Fuck TWC, we have the highest godamn internet rates in the world and yet they still want us to pay more?

I switched to Grande about 8 years ago and it is really cheap compared to Time Warner.

[Drachen]

I think they scared shitless of the Netflix Roku player, Amazon video rental, and of course HuLu. Fuck TWC, we have the highest godamn internet rates in the world and yet they still want us to pay more?

I switched to Grande about 8 years ago and it is really cheap compared to Time Warner.


I would love to go to Grande, but they only serve apartment complexes and I live in a house. If you want to hear about service, a friend of mine had Grande for a few years, and last year when gas got real bad, he called them up to drop them. He told them the reason why was he was planning a wedding and with the rise in gas prices, he had to cut his budget elsewhere. They told him that he is a valued customer and they hate to lose him since he had been with them for 3 years, so they put him on a hardship pricing plan. He got to keep all of his services (phone, inet, cable) and he only has to pay $9 a month. They did this indefinitely. This was last August and he is still paying 9 a month! That is a company that wants to keep its customers.

[CubanMustGo]

Any large company will go this way eventually. People who use a LOT of bandwidth are being subsidized by those who don't.

While agreeing in general that TW sucks diseased donkey balls, I've never figured why people get all righteous whenever this topic comes up. People using a lot of bandwidth means a provider has to get more connectivity to their backbone, upgrade infrastructure, etc. and none of that is free. Do you expect to be able to drive 100,000 miles a year for the same cost as someone who drives 6,000 miles a year? Feed a family of six for the same price as a single person? Pay the same each month for your iPhone as someone with generic cell phone on a 400 minute/month plan? Pay no more to live in a 5,000 square foot house than someone in a 500 square foot apartment?

Robert Heinlein (whose political theology I otherwise disagree with) said it best: TANSTAAFL. If you are using 10x what the average user does, someone's eventually going to have to pay for it, and expecting it to be everyone else is simply wishful thinking.

[LockBeard]

Any large company will go this way eventually. People who use a LOT of bandwidth are being subsidized by those who don't.

While agreeing in general that TW sucks diseased donkey balls, I've never figured why people get all righteous whenever this topic comes up. People using a lot of bandwidth means a provider has to get more connectivity to their backbone, upgrade infrastructure, etc. and none of that is free. Do you expect to be able to drive 100,000 miles a year for the same cost as someone who drives 6,000 miles a year? Feed a family of six for the same price as a single person? Pay the same each month for your iPhone as someone with generic cell phone on a 400 minute/month plan? Pay no more to live in a 5,000 square foot house than someone in a 500 square foot apartment?



Robert Heinlein (whose political theology I otherwise disagree with) said it best: TANSTAAFL. If you are using 10x what the average user does, someone's eventually going to have to pay for it, and expecting it to be everyone else is simply wishful thinking.

Read the article.

[JoeChalupa]

Everyone saying they'll go to AT&T will get the same cap, they're also talking about doing the samething.

I'm like others, i'm locked in on a price. I work from home and better get options to have a higher cap. I wish Verizon was here.

Yeah, I work from home too and that'll suck if I have to pay extra.

[JoeChalupa]

no, i believe i said before that my wireless router monitors bandwidth usage.

I also said that we should find some freeware bandwidth monitoring software so we can all get an idea of what we use.
+1

[CubanMustGo]

Read the article.

You want to put your spin on it (as usual) fine. Facts are facts.

[leemajors]

Any large company will go this way eventually. People who use a LOT of bandwidth are being subsidized by those who don't.

While agreeing in general that TW sucks diseased donkey balls, I've never figured why people get all righteous whenever this topic comes up. People using a lot of bandwidth means a provider has to get more connectivity to their backbone, upgrade infrastructure, etc. and none of that is free. Do you expect to be able to drive 100,000 miles a year for the same cost as someone who drives 6,000 miles a year? Feed a family of six for the same price as a single person? Pay the same each month for your iPhone as someone with generic cell phone on a 400 minute/month plan? Pay no more to live in a 5,000 square foot house than someone in a 500 square foot apartment?

Robert Heinlein (whose political theology I otherwise disagree with) said it best: TANSTAAFL. If you are using 10x what the average user does, someone's eventually going to have to pay for it, and expecting it to be everyone else is simply wishful thinking.

TW has no plans on updating anything, they haven't even implemented docsis 3.0 . The bandwidth used costs them next to nothing. This is a money grab, pure and simple. Them stating usage in Beaumont correlates to what is used in Austin is utterly ridiculous.

[leemajors]

Everyone saying they'll go to AT&T will get the same cap, they're also talking about doing the samething.

I'm like others, i'm locked in on a price. I work from home and better get options to have a higher cap. I wish Verizon was here.

AT&T cap is 150GB. The highest cap even mentioned at a "significantly higher price" for TW is 100GB.

[jcrod]

It looks like Time Warner has shelved these plans, I sent my email complaint. They rates were going to be $75 for 100GB and and $1 over up to $75.

[Frenzy]

Dex: I agree with you, I have a price-lock guaranty that means I can't do anything that would lower my monthly bill, I can't remove any services, and Time Warner is fucking nuts if they think they are going to impose a cap on my usage while I have that price-lock guaranty.
same here :wakeup

[leemajors]

It looks like Time Warner has shelved these plans, I sent my email complaint. They rates were going to be $75 for 100GB and and $1 over up to $75.

no, they "delayed them to educate the high consumption customers" or something like that

[baseline bum]

People shouldn't just drop only RoadRunner. If Time Warner's scared of losing out on their cable TV service because of the WWW, then everyone should help fulfill that prophecy by dropping their shitty TV too and going to satellite. Make those assholes pay for trying to screw everyone over.

[jcrod]

no, they "delayed them to educate the high consumption customers" or something like that

Delayed, shelved same thing no? Regardless there enough outcry to make them rethink their plans. I think everyone realizes prices will increase, but theirs was outrageous.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/Time_Warner_drops_meter_plan_for_SA.html

Time Warner Cable Inc. announced plans Thursday to shelve a tier-based metered billing trial program in four cities, including San Antonio and Austin.

Earlier this month, Time Warner, which has more than 8 million customers nationwide, announced plans to make San Antonio one of its first markets to try “consumption-based billing,” an economic model that allows Internet providers to charge users varying rates depending on usage. Three other cities — including Austin, Rochester, N.Y. and Greensboro N.C. — were also tapped for trial programs.

In a statement released on Twitter just minutes ago, one of the company's top executive's said “it is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing.”

“As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met ... We want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process,” wrote Glen Britt.

Critics of a bill-by-the-byte economic model fired back Thursday, saying unprecedented consumer backlash and the prospect of federal legislation that would derail any plans to cap usage and charge overage fees caused Time Warner to rethink their plans.

“The public outcry was so large,” said Jerri Kaiser, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., who plans to file legislation that would prohibit unfair tiered price structures from internet providers.

[MannyIsGod]

Hoooray!

I called those bitches but I didn't think it would matter. Maybe enough people called.

[spurster]

If they change the terms on your contract, you have the right to terminate it with no extra charges. Make sure you mention that when you talk to TW.

The way the charges should really work is that you get your regular download/upload speeds until you hit your cap. At that point, you get throttled.

[Slydragon]

I also sent them a email, I told them I pay for the fastest speeds they offer and that a cap was not smart because then I would be paying for fast net just to reach my cap faster.

I also said I would drop twc for my tv viewing as well. This was the reply I got.

Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Email Support.

As I understand, you are unhappy with our decision to start metered/tiered bandwidth usage on Road
Runner Internet service.

I apologize for the inconvenience and would be glad to assist you.

I totally understand your concern. It is valuable feedback like this, which will enable us to adopt
a best course plan, which will be profitable to both the customers and us. Our plan to adopt a
tiered plan is currently in its nascent stage. We are taking in customer feedback and closely
watching the evolution of the Internet so that we may decide what needs to be done.

Also, contrary to exaggerated media reports, no final decision has been taken. Please be assured
that any updates regarding this will be reported and you will be informed.

Once again, we thank you for being a valuable customer and your feedback. We shall forward this to
our higher resources. Please be assured that we always have the best of intentions for our valuable
customers.

We value you as a customer, and please feel free to E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat at the
following link:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/Local...d=21&linkid=11

Customer Support is available 24x7.

Sincerely,
Cloud

[leemajors]

Delayed, shelved same thing no? Regardless there enough outcry to make them rethink their plans. I think everyone realizes prices will increase, but theirs was outrageous.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/Time_Warner_drops_meter_plan_for_SA.html

Time Warner Cable Inc. announced plans Thursday to shelve a tier-based metered billing trial program in four cities, including San Antonio and Austin.

Earlier this month, Time Warner, which has more than 8 million customers nationwide, announced plans to make San Antonio one of its first markets to try “consumption-based billing,” an economic model that allows Internet providers to charge users varying rates depending on usage. Three other cities — including Austin, Rochester, N.Y. and Greensboro N.C. — were also tapped for trial programs.

In a statement released on Twitter just minutes ago, one of the company's top executive's said “it is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing.”

“As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met ... We want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process,” wrote Glen Britt.

Critics of a bill-by-the-byte economic model fired back Thursday, saying unprecedented consumer backlash and the prospect of federal legislation that would derail any plans to cap usage and charge overage fees caused Time Warner to rethink their plans.

“The public outcry was so large,” said Jerri Kaiser, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., who plans to file legislation that would prohibit unfair tiered price structures from internet providers.

from what i read on the official statement, they were delayed until October so customers could be properly educated.

[jcrod]

from what i read on the official statement, they were delayed until October so customers could be properly educated.

Thats what they intially said when everyone complained last week I believe. The statement I posted above was from today, its been shelved with no official date to start again. Also did you read the last line from one U.S. Rep?

[jcrod]

I also sent them a email, I told them I pay for the fastest speeds they offer and that a cap was not smart because then I would be paying for fast net just to reach my cap faster.

I also said I would drop twc for my tv viewing as well. This was the reply I got.

Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Email Support.

As I understand, you are unhappy with our decision to start metered/tiered bandwidth usage on Road
Runner Internet service.

I apologize for the inconvenience and would be glad to assist you.

I totally understand your concern. It is valuable feedback like this, which will enable us to adopt
a best course plan, which will be profitable to both the customers and us. Our plan to adopt a
tiered plan is currently in its nascent stage. We are taking in customer feedback and closely
watching the evolution of the Internet so that we may decide what needs to be done.

Also, contrary to exaggerated media reports, no final decision has been taken. Please be assured
that any updates regarding this will be reported and you will be informed.

Once again, we thank you for being a valuable customer and your feedback. We shall forward this to
our higher resources. Please be assured that we always have the best of intentions for our valuable
customers.

We value you as a customer, and please feel free to E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat at the
following link:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/Local...d=21&linkid=11

Customer Support is available 24x7.

Sincerely,
Cloud

It looks to be their standard reply, that is what I got. My was signed by Adam Rogers.

[Gervin44Silas13]

I used to work at Time Warner they are a bunch of crooks, the retention reps work under commission to Save you as a customer.
Digital phone is a mess...it never works...promotions like the price guarantee screw the customer over because then you can qualify for another sale.

[baseline bum]

In a statement released on Twitter just minutes ago, one of the company's top executive's said “it is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing.”

“As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met ... We want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process,” wrote Glen Britt.


This doesn't sound like anything new. Wasn't the rumor that they wouldn't begin the charges until January? If anything had really changed, he could have just come out and said consumption-based billing is dead. However, he talks about misunderstanding by the public and "testing" after more consultation with his customers. It sounds like he's leaving the door pretty wide open to go right ahead with the plan, after a few months of "educating" the public. Time Warner customers haven't won shit yet.

[Spurtacus]

Glad they delayed this for now. I have no idea how much I use a month. I do not download movies, but I download MP3's and watch a lot of youtube videos. Also game on my 360 and was considering getting back into WoW again...

[Melmart1]

I am beyond through with TWC. If it wasn't for the bill being in my roommate's name and him having some package deal he can't get out of, we would switch.

I have spent the last two weeks trying to get a hold of someone at that God forsaken place who can tell me if they will start showing the Rangers games on the alternate channel like they have for the last several years. I keep getting transferred, asked to call back, told someone will call me back, etc. Emails ask me to call the same number where nobody can help me, and live chat is no better.

So I found out from Rangers fans in Austin that they "couldn't renew the alternate feed contract" which is probably TWC-speak for "we couldn't get FSN to pay for it." So no Rangers games unless they are on at a different time as the Astros, which is rare.

To top it off, since San Antonio is somehow impossibly considered a Rangers market, I can't use MLBTV or Extra Innings because the games would be blacked out. FUUUUCK!!! I fucking hate Time Warner. As soon as he is out of that contract, we are switching. Shit, I am tempted to get satellite just for my room now, just so I don't have to keep rebooting the shitty HD box from TWC every other day.

If this internet thing had gone through in addition to this, I might have gone postal.

[sabar]

I can't believe anyone would defend the ISPs in this money-grabbing move. What is this massive burden that TWC has that they need to rip everyone off? Bandwidth? All they have to do is upgrade their crappy routers. Wow. What a massive burden. Bandwidth is so available it might as well be free to the ISPs. The only thing they have to do is upgrade routing to handle more packet throughput, but they live in the past and want to make as much money as possible without touching their infrastructure.

Screw these monopolies and screw their money grab. They can EASILY afford the bandwidth and the hardware. There is a reason the internet has been so easy to get into since its inception.

All you do is wire routers together and let the machines route the packets. Thats the internet. It isn't some massive, costly business.

Fact is, the ISPs want to kill competition from TV over the internet.

[Shelly]

Uh, oh... (http://stopthecap.com/2009/04/23/hissyfitwatch-cutting-off-customers-who-use-too-much-in-austin/)

They are chopping off without warning.

Just a snippet from the article...


Austin StoptheCap! reader Ryan Howard kicks off our premiere edition with a report that his Road Runner service was cut off yesterday without warning. According to Ryan, it took four calls to technical support, two visits to the cable store to try two new cable modems (all to no avail), before someone at Time Warner finally told him to call the company’s “Security and Abuse” center.

“I called the number and had to leave a voice mail and about an hour later a Time Warner technician called me back and lectured me for using 44 gigabytes in one week,” Howard wrote.

Howard was then “educated” about his usage.

“According to her, that is more than most people use in a year,” Howard said.

[JudynTX]

^^^ Damn it, big brother continues to watch. Sigh

[Bender]

I'm Live-chatting with a TW agent right now...

edit: told them I was leaving when they go to metered billing

[baseline bum]

I'm Live-chatting with a TW agent right now...

edit: told them I was leaving when they go to metered billing

Tell 'em you're dropping their cable TV too.

[Bender]

I did. I told them I'm also going to u-verse for my cable tv if they go to metered roadrunner.

[Evan]

Well I hope they don't. My sister's keep telling us to get their U-VERSE. TW's digital cable sucks donkey balls sometimes. :bang

TW is far better than U-Verse...check the speeds

[Biernutz]

Time-Warner is making buckets of money and this is just a rip off to raise our rates.
Read the link about how much money they are making off broadband then e-mail to them.


http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2009/04/now_hear_this_newsletter_april_3.html


(http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2009/04/now_hear_this_newsletter_april_3.html)