Because he's an investor -- and the push toward metered billing is driven primarily by investors who want to see carriers monetize Internet video delivery and protect TV revenues -- Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett's been pushing hard for metered billing to anyone who'll listen. Moffett recently proclaimed that AT&T should ditch their $30 unlimited iPhone data plan and bill by the byte, and this week chimes in on the inevitability of metered billing to MarketWatch (via Stop The Cap):So, other than wanting to charge 2000% over cost for bandwidth, insulting the intelligence of their customers, mishandling the public relations, and imposing ultra-low caps that were ridiculous in the age of HD video -- Time Warner Cable's idea was sound? Again, metered billing is absolutely about raising prices on consumers, though it's also about protecting TV revenues from the inevitable assault from Internet video.

As for needed metered billing to manage bandwidth, Time Warner Cable has yet to upgrade all markets with relatively inexpensive DOCSIS 3.0 technology. They've also yet to show any hard, raw data that supports -- in any way -- the idea that metered billing is necessary to manage bandwidth demand.

Keep in mind that Moffett also thinks network upgrades are unnecessary, has declared the wireless industry is collapsing, and enjoys slamming Verizon's investment in fiber whenever possible. There's no real debate that metered billing would be great for investors and carriers, but the fact remains these new pricing models may not be good for consumers -- a contingent Moffett and other investors couldn't care less about.

Remember, if this was really about simply handling capacity, carriers could simply target the heaviest users -- pushing those 0.1% of users to a business class tier, or, like Comcast, implement a 250GB cap. What companies like Time Warner Cable are proposing, and what Moffett is drooling over, is a system that takes aim at ordinary families, putting them on new pricing models where bandwidth is rationed.

As HD Internet video delivery truly explodes over the next decade, Moffett's client portfolios soar as carriers directly monetize Internet video delivery down to the megabyte. That's great for them, but not so great for you. While carriers promise that consumption-based billing will result in lighter users paying less, those of you who've been playing along at home know that in the end creative ISP accounting will have you paying more -- not less.