For much of 2003, cable executives waxed poetic over "lite" broadband tiers; connections from 128kbps to 1Mbps, offered around $25, designed to appeal to stubborn dial-up converts. Most of these tiers never materialized in 2004, primarily because of a fear that existing users, often paying in excess of $40, would downgrade and cost the companies money.

In 2004, Time Warner Cable and Roadrunner started testing a "Lite" tier they eventually hoped to market at around $23 a month. That tier offered speeds of 256kbps downstream and 128kbps up, and was tested in Columbus, Cincinnati, and San Antonio. But the company decided not to offer it to customers directly in most markets.

Why? Too many users might have downgraded. It's instead now very quietly being offered as a safety net for disgruntled users who threaten to terminate their service. Unhappy customers are offered the lower speed and price, if they're willing to stick it out with the company.

A user writes in to tell us that Comcast offered him 384kUp/384kDown service for $24.99, after he threatened to quit over a billing dispute with the company. The package is only offered through collections/billing retention in his market, the user claims, pitched at customers who threaten to cancel service.

"The rate is NOT available through the normal sales reps so don't get all crazy calling them as they will not be able to help," he says.

One option is to make these tiers so hopelessly anemic that they appeal to a very small minority. Canadian cable provider Rogers offers users an Ultra-lite tier that provides 128kbps - barely enough for VoIP - for $20.

The largest American cable providers remain stubborn, however. They're afraid that customer downgrades would bleed revenue. The result is a lot of users paying $40+ for 5-8Mbps broadband connections they barely use.

But couldn't the losses be offset by the addition of new dial-up converts, many of whom could be convinced to purchase additional services, such as VoIP?