AT&T Begins a Trial To Cap, Meter Internet Usage

An anonymous reader writes "On the heels of Comcast's decision to implement a 250-GB monthly cap, and Time Warner Cable's exploration of caps and overage fees, DSL Reports notes that AT&T is launching a metered billing trial of their own in Reno, Nevada. According to a filing with the FCC (PDF), AT&T's existing tiers, which range from 768 kbps to 6 Mbps, would see caps ranging from 20 GB to 150 GB per month. Users who exceed those caps would pay an additional $1 per gigabyte, per month."

Comments

Software updates

[DataBroker]

How about software updates? I'm just curious if software sellers will be coerced into offering quality software on the original install disks, or mailed updates, instead of just expecting that every user will happily download 1/4 of their monthly cap just to keep software current.

Re:Software updates

[hairyfeet]

Actually updates give MSFT a very big boost. The plans here in North AR are 25Gb-$35(DSL) or 36Gb-$45(cable),but in both cases they don't count Windows updates or anything coming from the Microsoft Kb sites,since they would rather you go get the updates. Of course since the cap my trying different distros is pretty much toast,and of course any updates you get from say Ubuntu or Red Hat count against your cap.

Mark my words,they are ALL going to end up with crappy 20-40Gb caps unless you pay through the nose. Then we'll see how quick sites like Youtube dry up without anyone able to watch the vids. BTW,whatever happened to all that money and tax breaks we gave the telecoms throughout the 90's to upgrade our infrastructure? And what about all those miles and miles of dark fiber that was left after the dotbomb bust of 2K? I have a feeling we are all about to get really screwed.