http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080117/time_warner...ernet.html?.v=2


This could directly impact me, as Time Warner is our ISP as well...

I'd be all for this, just as long as I'm clear on what they consider to be a lot of data. I'm certainly not downloading HD video all day long or anything, but you never know.

I tend to erratically download. Some weeks I'll download(including normal web usage) just 200-400 megs. Some weeks it'll be in the tens of gigabytes... >.>

I'm a Time Warner user myself, so it can hit me too. >.<

They tried a similar experiment that failed called "bandwidth on demand" back in 2001. In theory, you could double your bandwidth by paying $2 for ten minutes or so. It never passed the pilot phase.

The only real reason they want to do this is because their system is not capable of handling the use of high speed by everyone. It is a huge bottleneck on the cable system as the maximum bandwidth is relatively low that everyone shares. There are some areas where they use straight fiber (business accounts in major cities) but they lie a lot about the capabilities of their system. While they preach the standards of HFC (Hybrid-Fiber Coax) or FTTH (Fiber to the Home) its mainly only supported by the cable modems, UBRS, Servers and the CMTS they use. The real issue is that most of what Time Warner (or any other cable provider) has for their customers is aquired services, aka they bought/acquired areas of service from other providers, and In a large amount of those areas (like 80% or higher) they still have 30-40 year old lines running on the poles. The HFC lines (in areas that have had the same lines that are at least 10 years old) are rated for the most 56Mbps as the maximum bandwidth.

They have been forced recently to offer insane speeds on the cable service, you may have seen ads for 10Mbps speeds, because of the Fiber services being offered in many areas by Verizon and AT&T. Time Warner, for example, was given the choice of upgrading ALL the cable lines in their areas but this price is so astronomical that it isn't worth it for them unless they can make money on it right away, such as in large cities of business contracts. So the homeowner is screwed here. What they did instead was increase the power on the existing lines (more power = more bandwidth) but this screwed up people with older TV boxes and cable modems, or even older/lower quality televisions with built in coax ports. When TW increased the power in August 2006 in my area, thousands of customers had to get their cable modems and set top boxes replaced because the increased power fried out those units.

But it isn't just internet where the problem exists for cable. Its also the television. You can tell that cable is losing the HD battle with satellite and its because of the bandwidth. What is also ridiculous is the fact that Time Warner advertising about having x amount of HD Channels, and also provides you with an HD box that has a little light on the front that comes on when its being broadcast in 1080i. But this is a ruse. As of March 2007, only ONE channel was being broadcast in 1080i, which was the Discovery HD. All other channels were being broadcast in 720p. The problem pops up because the HD Boxes will light up saying they are in 1080i when they aren't. If you've worked in the HD business, you can tell the difference between a 720p and a 1080i broadcast. What happens is that the feed into the headend from the satellite is in 1080i, but the signal is downgraded to 720p out to the customer. Since the signal is coming in at 1080i, it tells the HD box that it is 1080i. Cable also does not provide all channels at once. If you have 1 TV box in your house, the headend only provides the channel you are watching at that time to your house. This is opposed to Satellite where all channels are being broadcast at all times.

Anyone should be able to see that TW and other cable companies are treading water, trying to compete against the future. The reason they stay in business is because (lets forget that TW has other interests) they have a loyal customer base, the same reason why AOL can still sell dial-up to people, which is completely moronic. Satellite and Fiber own TV and Fiber owns the internet. Cable can't compete without shelling out major amounts of money to upgrade their lines ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. That's a lot of lines out there, just drive around and take a look. Oh let's also not forget that Cable is going to get F'ed when the digital switchover occurs. It will be required to have a digital set top box to get TV very soon (it was supposed to be next month but I think they moved it). A lot of cable TV subscribers have cable for a couple reasons, and it all has to do with satellite. 1. They can't put a dish on their house. 2. They don't need a box for every TV (or a box to get signal since Dish has dual-tuner boxes) Because each extra box costs money. I ran into people that had 7+ TVs in their house. With DirecTV at least, you can get up to 6 with one dish, and only 4 installed free. These people with 9 TVs on cable would be paying loads to get 2 dishes installed, not to mention 5 boxes worth of install fees, and the install fee on the extra dish. Or maybe they live in one of those areas (usually rural/country not suburbs) where they are in the middle of a broadcast area and need an extra dish to get a different satellite. Most people don't like the idea of getting one dish, let alone up to three dishes installed on their house.

OK my rant is done. Here is my work history if this helps:

1. Operations Enginner at Adelphia Communications (now TW)
2. Account Exec for Verizon FiOS
3. Tech Support for Sony (we sold our first 1080i HD TVs in 2000) and DirecTV
4. Account Exec for DirecTV

The only time any company ever introduces a new pricing system is when that new system will increase their profit margins. Do you honestly expect a company to introduce a pricing system where their customers would actually pay less?

Another way to increase profit margins is by attracting new customers b/c of the sweet plan you're offering.

By that reasoning, stores would never put anything on sale...

It's been my experience that the only things they ever get put on sale is crap that nobody is buying anyway and they need the shelf space for new merchandise.

This is why I have DSL

what about coupons, temporary sales, and rebates?

Our Internet infrastructure here in the US is outdated and many other countries are way ahead of us in terms of providing a strong backbone for the system as a whole. These companies should spend money to upgrade the current infrastructure instead of trying to find ways to 'adjust' the usage price to consumers.

One question is, what will the rate be per hour? I really hope this dies a quick death and is forgotten. Fix the infrastructure instead, after all, these companies DO have money.

The problem is just that Emporer, they don't want to spend on infrastructure. Our Cel service is just as antiquated as our "broadband" service. While we're bragging about 12MBPS with some cable internet services, other countries are getting up to 50MBPS. That's sad.

US companies are so profit driven that investing in new hardware/software usually isn't their mode. They'd rather keep patching and doing 'soft implements' to keep the bottom line well in the black.

Aw crap. I'm a TW customer as well. It's already costing me an arm and a leg as it is. If I wanted crap pricing and access like what they're talking about, I'd go sit at McDonald's and pay $3.00 for two hours.

I hope this plan falls apart and quick.