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Broadband, Not TV, Primary Service says TWC CEO
As Insight Customers Face Potential for Metered Billing
Speaking about yesterday's three-billion-dollar deal to acquire Insight Communications, Time Warner Cable CEO Clenn Britt informed the Wall Street Journal that "clearly the relative importance of the video business has declined over time. "I think broadband clearly is becoming the anchor service," says the CEO, who was at the heart of Time Warner Cable's failed effort to impose caps as low as 5GB and per byte overages as high as $5 per gigabyte. Meanwhile Insight Communications customers are wondering what kind of changes they'll ultimately face -- changes that could include losing access to content like the NFL network. However, these 750,000 customers may also face Time Warner Cable's whims when it comes to trying to impose metered billing, something Britt clearly hasn't lost his desire for.
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AnonPerson
join:2000-08-26
Lexington, KY

AnonPerson

Member

Caps

I really don't want this deal to happen. I am completely satisfied with Insight and have no usage caps to worry about. It's only a matter of time until TWC attempts to initiate caps a second time. $$$$

lgamer
join:2004-08-16
Louisville, KY

lgamer

Member

Re: Caps

I agree caps suck !
romulusnr
join:2007-08-01
Federal Way, WA

romulusnr

Member

Isn't it the same thing

With DOCSIS, isn't it all just IP now anyway? Kinda redundant.

And a lot of that broadband is spent doing -- you guessed it -- streaming video!

Scheduled TV is over. Everything's on-demand these days.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Failed Effort?

They didn't even announce the details of the plan ($15 tier) before they were censured by the mob. There is nothing inherently wrong with metered billing; it enables subscribers to pay less.

TWC is just acknowledging that the value of their enterprise is in the last-mile delivery pipe, since they can't make any margin on content anymore.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: Failed Effort?

It doesn't enable subscribers to pay less. That's crazy talk. They pay the same base amount, and then EVEN MORE on top of that. Oye, broken record time I guess!
flbas1
join:2010-02-03
Fort Lauderdale, FL

flbas1

Member

Re: Failed Effort?

you notice that the profile for elray has Sonic.NET - where the CEO doesn't want caps.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Failed Effort?

said by flbas1:

you notice that the profile for elray has Sonic.NET - where the CEO doesn't want caps.

We pay a huge premium for Sonic, not for "cap free" service, but because they provide superior service. We're not blessed to reside in their Fusion CO's, so its plain old DSL at very basic speeds. But it doesn't fall down often, and they don't act like idiots when you call them.

AT&T's capped service would be much cheaper, but the annual savings isn't worth the headache that comes with their miserable uptime and throughput.
elray

elray to jjeffeory

Member

to jjeffeory
said by jjeffeory:

It doesn't enable subscribers to pay less. That's crazy talk. They pay the same base amount, and then EVEN MORE on top of that. Oye, broken record time I guess!

TWC's offering was $15/month.

It would have worked fine for me, along with a dozen of my relatives. Instead, the best rate offered is $30-35.

The only "broken record" here is amongst those of you who feel threatened by the concept of taking responsibility for your consumption.

ARGONAUT
Have a nice day.
Premium Member
join:2006-01-24
New Albany, IN

ARGONAUT

Premium Member

Metered Information

All this unknown is giving me gas.

anon6
@comcast.net

anon6

Anon

they still got ya

whether your internet only or cable tv only, they will still get their money. the internet is still a cord, you may cut the cable tv cord, but the internet cord still remains. so they can charge you for internet video as well. of course the company would see it that way.
bidger
join:2009-12-23
Elmira, NY

bidger

Member

Realistic Assessment

I've yet to see the CEO of another cable co admit that the TV end of their services is on the down slide due to the economy and the shift in viewing habits to streaming video. Now all Britt has to do is back off on the metered talk and roll out DOCSIS 3.0 in areas not affected by FIOS or Uverse and it will show TWC is serious about wideband as their primary focus.