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Time Warner To Offer Unlimited Bandwidth For $150

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the super-size-me dept.

unr3a1 writes to tell us that Time Warner Cable has responded to the massive criticism of its new plan to cap user bandwidth with a new pricing model. Users will be given a grace period in which to assess their pricing tier. The "overages" will be noted on their bill, allowing them to change either their billing plan or their usage patterns. "On top of a 5, 10, 20, and 40-gigabyte (GB) caps, the company said this week that it would offer an additional 100GB tier for heavy users. Prices (so far) would range from $29.95 to $75.00 a month, with users charged an extra dollar for every GB more they download, although that charge is also capped at $75. An 'unlimited' bandwidth plan, therefore, tops out at $150."

5 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Oblig by guga31bb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    -Comment about lack of competition
    -Comment about poor quality of US bandwidth relative to other countries

    What did I miss?

    1. Re:Oblig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oblig comment about how those $150 dollar/month heavy users will likely still be throttled anyway, regardless of any promises or assurances the company is going to make to the contrary.

  2. Re:WOW by cabjf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "We'll give you the same access you have now, just for three times the cost."

    Well, I guess they finally figured out how to make pirates pay. And the artist still gets no money.

  3. Netflix by Stonent1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They just don't want you streaming Netflix over your cable. They want you to sign up for their on-demand service.

  4. $1 per GB -- 4x the cost of DVD+stamp by Nicolas+MONNET · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's just insane. It makes it 10 times more expensive than to send a burnt DVD ($.5?) through the mail (~$1 I guess?).
    That pricing scheme is about as out of touch as Dr Evil in that scene where he asks for a ridiculous $1 million ransom for not blowing up the planet.
    You can get internet transit in a datacenter on the order of $6 per Mbps per month wholesale; peering is way below that.
    That mean that for $6 you can transfer ~320GB a month; Warner is going to charge 50 times that.
    Sure, it's not the same thing entirely obviously, but the main difference is that you have to build a line to the customer, and you're paying for that already whether you use it very little or a lot.
    The only remaining difference therefore is the connection between local concentrators and the backbone; nothing special and particularly expensive about it.
    Therefore this is a total rip-off, and most likely monopoly abuse.