 lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL
| Broadband Customer: Loss of Market Share Inevitable These scrubs are jumping all over the metered billing bandwagon while at the same time wanting us to believe they can't deliver alacarte programming.
Metered billing needs heavy regulation, this only improves the bottom line for the greedy without improving product or value for the consumer.
Right now I have a choice between Brighthouse and Fios. I'm using Brighthouse for internet and Fios for TV, the first one that implements metered billing looses my patronage. | |
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Dolgan
Premium
join:2005-10-01
Sun Prairie, WI
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Could be a boon for Telcos The devil will be in the details, but if metered billing is widely adopted by the cable industry it may drive customers back to DSL and traditional wireline services. The threat of caps alone raised quite a bit of ire... if actually implemented those with a choice will switch providers. | |
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modemslayer
join:2003-12-11
Spokane, WA | Inevitable The consumer getting screwed is inevitable. | |
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DaEnigma
join:2004-11-26
Las Vegas, NV
1 edit | RE: Metered Billing / Caps This is nothing more than an attempt to secure revenue they are losing, and put a strangle hold on the inevitable move to streaming television programming.
They are seeing a loss of revenue to companies like Netflix, and Amazon via streaming STB's like TiVo and Roku. In addtion to the number of folks whom now watch video from their PC.
Metered billing and low caps will do nothing more than stifle broadband innovation and further secure the local monopoly/duopoly.
If there was real competition we would not even be having this discussion. Broadband internet has become a cornerstone of the modern household, and these monopolies/duopolies know they have us over a barrel.
They see the writing on the wall and the move to Internet video/programming is coming. Many of these companies ignored the signs and followed the same business model member companies of the RIAA followed. They refuse to move and flow with the development of new media delivery systems, and instead cling to their old ways of generating revenue. If this fails(ed), then strong arm people into preserving their lines of revenue and do the ostrich maneuver. | |
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IT Guy
Ow, My Balls
Premium
join:2004-07-29
Las Cruces, NM
clubs: | Re: RE: Metered Billing / Caps I agree completely. | |
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Joe50
@exxonmobil.com
| Nationalize it I think the only way they can fix this issue is to have it taken over by the government. Broadband and other utilities (electric) that have such a huge impact on the nation and economy should not be allowed to be run by private companies. They have no motivation other than profit, so they will never do what is best for the country. This is espeically true for service providers that require a large infrastructure investment of cables and equipment, because they always eventually become a monopoly. | |
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| weaver0
join:2004-05-05
Macungie, PA
| Re: Nationalize it said by Joe50 :
I think the only way they can fix this issue is to have it taken over by the government. Broadband and other utilities (electric) that have such a huge impact on the nation and economy should not be allowed to be run by private companies. They have no motivation other than profit, so they will never do what is best for the country. This is espeically true for service providers that require a large infrastructure investment of cables and equipment, because they always eventually become a monopoly.
LOL "@exxonmobile.com" 
you forgot the /sarcasm | |
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Realtech23
Premium
join:2006-03-27
Olean, NY
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Who this Benefits!! "Time Warner Cable posted a net profit of $164 million, down from $242 million a year ago due to separation costs from Time Warner. Total revenue rose 5% to $4.4 billion." DON'T THEY MAKE ENOUGH MONEY AS IS? Just Fattens there pockets more for doing less and gives them excuses not to upgrade networking. "oh consumers aren't using as much now since the caps, so I guess we really don't need to do any upgrades" that is what they hope to say when its all said and done. Not to mention, Another Outsourcing Violator. Can I please have an actual US company? 100% US company?
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US Money, US Companies, US Workers all pay for these company's products and services and yet when they fold they Use US resources to pay for Foreign outsourcing. All companies who do this should be ashamed of yourselves and should be HEAVILY TAXED. | |
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David1970
@comcast.net
| Disregard customer's wishes at your own peril... ... if these companies try to jam this down our throats, they will be sorry. If this happens, all I can say is HELLO MOVIE RENTAL (by mail), over the air, no cable TV, cheapest internet plan just to be able to check mail, do banking. These companies will pay.
Come on everyone, dollars talk, BS walks. These companies WILL LISTEN TO US, or they will suffer the consequences.
Evolving your networks is very cheap, most of these companies have healthy profits, marginal bandwidth costs these companies almost nothing. There's NO EXCUSE for trying to gouge customers for even more money.
Evolve, or some other company eventually will eat your lunch. Guaranteed. In the meantime, many customers will resist with everything they have. | |
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surrogate
join:2005-08-25
Brick, NJ
| no time for the old in-out luv, gotta read the meter So is a tech going to have to come out and install the meter or will there be a self-install kit? There is no actual meter you say. I'm supposed to trust the slimey cable co. Sorry, that isn't going to happen. If they want to charge me like the electric, gas, and water utilities then they should have to have to install a user readable meter like the utilities. | |
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KodiacZiller
join:2008-09-04
73368
| Government Regulation Now. There are very few instances where I think the government has any business in the private business sector, but this is definitely one of them. The fact that consumers have no choice necessitates that the government act on behalf of the consumer.
The MSO's have not provided one shred of evidence that A) their profits have decreased because of unmetered Internet or B) that their networks are actually congested at all. Until they can provide evidence of either A or B, then one must look at this as merely a money grab and non-competitive business practice at one of the worst economic times in modern history to attempt such a scheme.
It's interesting that cell providers have went from metered usage to now almost universal unmetered usage, while the broadband providers have done the OPPOSITE. The avarice of the MSO's just wont stop until it is forced by law to do so. | |
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| Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA
| Re: Government Regulation Now. While too much regulation can be bad for business, if this is what the cable companies want, internet services with metered billing or overage charges must be regulated as a public utility with strict network neutrality provisions with business "firewalls" to protect potential competition. The government must protect the public from cable companies that would use metered billing or low caps with overage charges to prevent competition for their video services, stifle internet innovation and price gouge. | |
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cornelius785
join:2006-10-26
Worcester, MA
| my only demand if they want to do this RIDICULOUS idea of metered billing, i want a COMPLETELY open connection (no closed ports) with no filtering, throttling, mysteriously cutting out, etc.
seems like only the cable companies are the one pushing and actively capping connections and metering connections, i wonder why..... | |
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jkeelsnc
join:2008-08-22
Boone, NC
| Telcos/Cable etc The more the cables and telcos charge and meter the less I will use their service. It is simple as that.
For instance, I could get cable where I live. However, I'd have to pay $50/mo to get a bunch of other channels I have no interest in just to get the 2 or 3 that interest me at all. Added to that fact is that the quality of TV programming has gone down the tubes in recent years. So, as of now I don't subscribe to cable. Charter probably doesn't like it but oh well. So, instead I invest the extra $$$ into internet and get a faster internet connection.
However, same thing if they start metering and capping I will just reduce my speed plan from 6mpbs down to 3mpbs or even 1.5mpbs and even just use my internet less and read books more.
Thats how I handle it and its exactly what Charter and AT&T don't want. Too bad. Its my money and when I have a limited amount of it I will apportion it according to my interests and needs in an efficient way. If they can't meet that then I simply find ways to cut out services and reduce my bills.
The same companies wind up hurting for their implementation of these ideas. For instance, that is money every month that charter could have from me. Instead, they won't offer me an ala carte package or increase the quality of TV programming out there so oh well. Same with AT&T. If they charge too much and I feel I am not getting enough for my hard earned $$$ I will simply cut back or eliminate spending to that company. *shrugs*
I am sure some CEO or executive at the AT&T HQ is fussing and fuming and whining about people like me. However, unless they are paying my bills (or my salary) they will not get any sympathies. *yawn* | |
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jkeelsnc
join:2008-08-22
Boone, NC
| Caps, etc I guess my point in the last post is that speaking with our money will show them more than any legislation in Washington.
If we spend less and even stop buying their service they will either have to give us what we want or they will fold. Its as simple as that. Thats how the free market is supposed to work.
I bitch on these forums too but the difference is when something is too much or I don't like it I reduce my service or eliminate it and figure its to hell with the company if they can't figure out how to meet my needs at a price I can afford. | |
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CyrusTheVirus81
@sbcglobal.net
| Caps this whole idea of metered billing is dumb I'm not staying with any ISP who has such ridicules caps. its like att telling me I need to pay by the call for my home phone it's always been unlimited for local calling (least all my life) and hell even long distance is unlimited at a reasonable monthly price without having to switch to some business line sure they offer a metered rate for people that don't use the phone much but it's not forced on anyone. And caps as low as 1gb? lol I pull more than that on my iPhone. | |
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Jay77
@rr.com | Then meter cable tv If they are going to meter internet usuage the same should apply for cable tv too | |
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franknalco
join:2005-01-27
Englewood, CO
·Qwest.net
| Metered already in CA »www.sanbrunocable.com/internet.html
Standard monthly rate of only $32.95
FREE installation & FREE modem with cable service.
Minimum rate of 512 Kbps up and maximum 12 Mbps down. Other levels of service available. Certain restrictions may apply. Note: Monthly bandwidth usage allowances. Level 1 - 50 GB, Level 2 - 100 GB, Level 3 - 150 GB 25 cent charge per GB over allowed bandwidth will be applied to billing statement. | |
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| namida12
join:2004-10-30
Las Vegas, NV
·Cox HSI
| Re: Metered already in CA What are the DSL & Satellite rates? I presume Sanbrunocable has an exclusive area contract with the local government.
Bet the CEO along with other board members are already rubbing their palms together in anticipation of larger annual bonus... Internet is already the most profitable part of a cable companies offered services, and to add tiered levels is ok, but 25 cents per gig over the limit, that is consumer theft...
JR | |
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| | franknalco
join:2005-01-27
Englewood, CO
·Qwest.net
| Re: Metered already in CA "Given the City’s intention to offer a value oriented service the product pricing favors the consumer. The current Expanded Basic service rate at $46.47 is nearly 20% below the market rate for comparable service. The current rate for the 10 Mbps Internet service is $29.95, which is unquestionably the best value in the entire San Francisco Bay Area. The current rate for the fully loaded Digital Phone service is $39.95, which includes unlimited local, unlimited long distance to anywhere in the U.S., a full set of calling features, and unlimited international calling to over 20 countries that are included in the plan. All of these services are available at further discounts when purchased through bundled packages of Cable, Internet and Phone services. " | |
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jac74
join:2004-11-14
Atlanta, GA
| Cap Crap I say we put Glenn Britt in a locked room with NO windows, and just enough food for him to survive for 2 weeks, and tell him the food in the room needs to last him 30 days. If it doesn't we will take away 90% of his salary.... perhaps he would then get the message..... although I doubt it. Here is what I assume (Assumptions are bad) that this is a "somewhat" educated guy... I would love for him to explain to a room full of users why WE want caps.... are you serious? "Customers want caps?" I guess I have been "mis-understanding" all the media lately.... hmm.. sign me up for double the price.... this guy is a Douche Nozzle!!! | |
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mc5w
join:2002-06-14
Independence, OH
| Metered Billing Back when telephone and telegraph lines cost a lot of money metered billing did makes sense. The companies had to put a price on communications because resources were relatively scarce and expensive. Copper T carrier and later on fiber optic brought down the price of construction and operation and increased capacity to the point where flat rate billing makes more sense. This is because when capacity is cheap enough and plentiful enough it actually costs a significant amount of money to do metering.
In Chicago in the 1950s and earlier any telephone call that was outside of your own central office had to pay message units read nonitemized toll charges. This was also true in a lot of other cities. When fiber optic lines went in the telephone companies eventually realized that they could LOWER rates and make more money if they stopped spending money on metering telephone calls.
Similarly, the creators of ARPAnet ( what Internet was before it went commercial ) realized that metering would use too much precious computer capacity. So, each member institution paid for its share of equipment and lines and they ran unmetered. Computers were so expensive back then that the traffic was limited anyways.
Fortunately, cheap fiber optic capacity came just in time for when the cost of computers came down to something low enough that even people who were on a small budget could afford a computer.
I do not think that bandwidth hogging applications ( other than spammers ) will ever be a problem because the number of viruses have increased to the point that you need a 3 billiion instruction per second computer just to download email and still pictures. Of course, a lot of security vulnerabilites in Windows and other software are purposely there so that the H-1B visa people can extort green cards from Uncle Sam. The computer industry wanted people who were required to work for the same company for 6 years and they they got what they wished for. If a company in a better country than the U.S. ( and such a country does not exist ) had that kind of a job for me I would do what I could to extort a green card too. | |
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| namida12
join:2004-10-30
Las Vegas, NV
·Cox HSI
| Re: Metered Billing mc5w,
Great history lesson, I enjoyed your post until the last paragraph. A reasonable intelligent computer users would have a dual booting computer and use a non-Microsoft operating system to surf the net and read their e-mail in a text only format.
Have you viewed this collection of facts?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY
20 percent of India's honor students is a greater number of students than the US has in its school system.
JR | |
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JunjiHiroma
join:2008-03-18
| The Cable companies are FORCING you to accept UBB "If you tell a lie that's big enough, and you tell it often enough, people will believe you are telling the truth, even when what you are saying is total crap." - Hitler
So the cable companies are lying repedally so they can get you to agree to this UBB crap...That just BLOWS my mind >.>
"Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." | |
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| visitor13
join:2005-07-12
Jersey City, NJ
| Re: The Cable companies are FORCING you to accept UBB I actually have a sort of an experience with metered billing: when Verizon cut off their free access to alt.binaries newsgroups I signed up for one of the dedicated newsgroups servers. I could've picked one of the unlimited download monthly plans but I opted for xxxGB for xx$$ (they have 25GB/$10 and 120GB/$25 right now) which is not exactly the same thing as the ISPs are proposing - my plan never expires, lasts me anywhere between 4-6 months and for a moderate user like me is perfect: I would have been much worse off with the unlimited bandwidth The cheapest option: $10/month - still very reasonable for someone with greater needs than mine . I think it all comes down to fair pricing and being offered the right options. Perhaps a combination of plans and regulations would work? I'm not sure that the outcome of this discussion has to necessarily be viewed as unfair by either side. | |
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alohashirt
join:2005-01-02
New York, NY
| Metered Billing is bad for America I've lived in the US for more than ten years, initially as a lucky beneficiary of the H1B program. My family in Australia have "broadband", but as I discovered, "broadband" with metered billing ends up being pretty narrow.
A result of this is farcical conversations like "please dont send me any photos for the next two weeks until my allowance is back up again"
Broadband internet with a disincentive to use it is part of the reason that the US software industry is over 100 times larger than the Australian software industry.
Can you imagine hitting your monthly cap and having your service drop to 64KB/s? See below:
Plans for BigPond Wireless Mobile Card & Wireless Modem
Usage allowance1 Monthly access fee Excess usage charges
per MB
200MB $29.95 $0.25
1GB $59.95 $0.25
BigPond Liberty® 5GB $89.95
BigPond Liberty® 10GB $129.95
No excess usage charges^ If you are on a BigPond Liberty plan, once you reach your usage allowance, the speed of your service will slow to 64kbps until your new billing cycle starts.
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