Frontier Communications Co. will probably charge its subscribers a dollar or two per gigabyte of Internet traffic if they go over the monthly allotments the company plans to introduce next year, Frontier's chief executive said Friday.

The company caused confusion and some dismay among customers earlier this year, when it said it would charge for Internet use above 5 gigabytes per month, starting next year.

Frontier was looking at providing higher monthly limits, perhaps 20 gigabytes per month, in more urban markets like Rochester and Elk Grove, Calif., where usage is higher than rural areas.

The company will also sell plans with higher download caps for higher prices, Wilderotter told The Associated Press, at increments like 10, 20 and 50 gigabytes.

"All networks are going to have to move to that paradigm in order to stay profitable," Wilderotter said at a conference in New York.

"The business model that we're using today really has our light users subsidizing our heavy users," she said.