Since the time broadband took off in the US, most providers have focused on pricing its broadband packages based on speed, which is a flat-rate fee regardless of how much data one downloads. However, one major problem ISPs have started facing after the strong take-up of broadband is their network getting congested with heavy downloader’s and file sharers. Comcast originally tried solving this by interfering with BitTorrent traffic, but got heavily criticised over this attack. Now Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable have decided that they will try implementing usage limits, where the price not only determines the speed, but also how many Gigabytes one is entitled to download a month.
A Time Warner Cable spokesman said that this move will help generate revenue from heavy users to help invest in the upgrading of the network infrastructure. They will implement this measure starting this Thursday where it will allow new customers in select areas a certain quota per month and then charge $1 per Gigabyte excess usage should the customer go over their allowance for the month. Its policy is aimed to target the top 5% of its users that consume a bulk of the overall bandwidth. Comcast on the other hand said it will slow the transfer of files to the heaviest users of on its network during periods when their network gets congested.
These tests will initially take place in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia. In these test areas, Time Warner Cable will offer new subscribers a choice of packages ranging from $29.95 to $54.90, which cover speeds of 768k to 15Mb respectively and download limits of 5GB to 40GB per month respectively. Comcast is still evaluating whether to implement a more generous 250GB limit to clamp down on its heaviest users, but has not decided yet.
While 95% of Time Warner Cable’s customers may not exceed the new limits, this move may turn away lot of potential customers if implemented nationwide, particularly as word spreads around about what ISPs to go for and avoid. On the other hand, if other ISPs take on similar measures, it may have a serious effect on VoD services and upcoming technologies that require heavy volumes of Internet traffic. For example, if a VoD service delivers 8GB size HD films, Warner’s highest new package would only allow one to view 1 film a week on average, assuming they don’t use more than 8GB on other traffic.
On the other hand, ISPs that cap usage is not something new either. For example, here in Ireland, most ISPs cap usage to between 6GB and 10GB per month on their entry level package and this figure only goes up to 30GB to 40GB on the highest home packages. A few ISPs are also known to block file sharing services to reduce load on their networks. Many ISPs in other countries around the world also implement similar restrictions to these.
