The major Telco's and Cable companies (which in many cases are becomming the same entity*)feel that they have now pushed enough of the smaller ISP's out of the market (by making the conditions for small ISP's unreasonable enough so they can't do business) that they can begin to raise prices. As an incentive to extort more money from their customers they downgrade existing service and sell the same service back to you for a higher fee. This trend happens in any market where monopoly powers exist. Be it operating systems, cable TV, and broadband.
Slashdot Mirror
The major Telco's and Cable companies (which in many cases are becomming the same entity*)feel that they have now pushed enough of the smaller ISP's out of the market (by making the conditions for small ISP's unreasonable enough so they can't do business) that they can begin to raise prices. As an incentive to extort more money from their customers they downgrade existing service and sell the same service back to you for a higher fee. This trend happens in any market where monopoly powers exist. Be it operating systems, cable TV, and broadband.