AfterDawn: News

Time Warner to start bandwidth caps

According to an internal memo, it seems that the high-speed cable ISP Time Warner Cable will be starting bandwidth caps aimed at "collecting revenue from those who utilize over half of the total network bandwidth."

Besides confirming the legitimacy of the memo, Time Warner has declined any other details on its plans.



The memo explained that the first subscribers subject to the bandwidth cap test would be in Beaumont, Texas with a national deployment following if the company finds the system to be practical. The customers will have their bandwidth metered and charges will be applied if the caps are exceeded.

Bandwidth capping policies have its pitfalls and Comcast can certainly tell you about that. Consumers have responded well to "unlimited" bandwidth policies and would certainly not appreciate being capped. There are legitimate reasons for use of large amounts of bandwidth and caps would surely infuriate those users.

More updates if and when there is any backlash to the tests.


Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jan 2008 16:23

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• 44 comments

• vinny13

  More people jumping on the douche wagon these days...

  17.1.2008 16:30 #1

• banned2X

  Hmmmmmm.............if Comcast decides to do this to its customers and I, I get charged then I'm bustin' out the big guns and calculating ALL the bandwidth that I have paid for (4Mbps down) and figuring out just how much leniency I deserver and get by having an average speed rating at 2.5Mbps down. That's a 38% decrease, or screw depending on how you look at it. Capped my BW and charge me????????.............and I will offset for what I'm paying for vs. what I'm getting. This is a cut and dry situation in my mind.

  17.1.2008 16:52 #2

• locobrown

  Move around, that's what I have done after comcast decided to monitor all upload and download activity from their users. It's bad business trying to earn a quick buck will only back fire, but isp providers never learn.

  17.1.2008 17:03 #3

• redux79

  I heard about this on cnn this morning. From what I understand they are not going to reduce the rates for people who use very little bandwidth (big surprise there). The current rates will stay the same until you start surpassing the bandwidth caps, greedy sob's. Unfortunately moving around will probably never be a possibility where I live considering f'ing comcast has cemented a monopoly here.

  17.1.2008 17:23 #4

• NexGen76

  This move from Time Warner cable does not surprise me at all.Time Warner Cable is trying to find any means to drain there customer for every dollar they can possible get because Direct TV is taking all there customer base.I just got a notice from them a month ago about there rates are going up for the third year in a row.Also with secret contacts they got with Apartment ownership groups that force customers to buy there product & not have a choice.On top of that they have horrible customer service that treat you like a crook when you call having a issue with your bill.Time Warner don't have to worry about me getting anything from them after April.I going to close on my house real soon & i can't wait to throw them back there garage equipment.I'm glad to see these money draining Cable companys dieing a slow death.

  17.1.2008 17:57 #5

• dikdimond

  My g/f works for Time-Warner as a customer service rep,and she didn't tell me about this...I'm not putting up with a cap of any kind. Looks like it's time to see what my options are,and keep praying fiber optic from Verizon will be offered in Ohio before I die. I already have trouble with their newsgroup

  17.1.2008 18:06 #6

• mfgnet

  Where is the respect for us Americans who if it wasn't for us therE'D be no time warner! You materialIstIc Americans are the cause of this cancer! StOp buying their shit and starT PIRATING THEIR SHIT. cLOSE THEMN BITCHES DOWN. i DON'T MEAN THAT> FOR LEAGAL REASONS. sO THOSE BASTARDS CAN'T SUE ME. tHEY ARE THE 4TH REICH AND WILL USE GESTAPO TACTICS. lIBERALS SHOULD HATE THE MEDIA MORE THAN Bush! THey are the ones who are ruling and fucking up USA, not he!

  17.1.2008 19:22 #7

• jimmer

  this is stupid
  then they should pay their customers who have leftover bandwidth at the end of every month

  17.1.2008 19:43 #8

• DVDdoug

  I really don't see a problem with this. When the customers use more bandwith the costs (for the ISP) go up. They have to install & maintain more routers, etc.
  
  You pay for the amount of electricity you use. You pay for the number of phone calls you make. You pay for the number of cable channels you get, etc.
  
  As long as they are HONEST about the service you are paying for, it's a free market and you can drop the service if it's not worth it to you. Comcast's mistake was selling you "unlimited" service and then limiting it. That's FRAUD!

  17.1.2008 20:43 #9

• mspurloc

  If you have Time Warner, here's what you do:
  
  Take two empty paper towel rolls and tape them end-to-end. Go to the bank and get the exact amount you owe Time Warner in pennies and nickels. Go to their office and start rolling coins through the tube to pay. When you get halfway through, cap the tube and say "Ohhhhh, I'm sorry. That's all the bandwidth you're entitled to for today. You know, it's like my situation. I pay for unlimited access and you limit it. So I'll be back tomorrow, and maybe the next day, to pay the next installment."
  
  Demand a receipt EVERY time.

  17.1.2008 21:00 #10

• MrGrimace

  This does not bother me either. If they do it, they lose my business plain and simple. I will not put up with metered service when another provider has un-metered service. When I call their service rep I will make sure they know exactly why I switched.

  17.1.2008 21:05 #11

• mspurloc

  Originally posted by DVDdoug: I really don't see a problem with this.
  
  As long as they are HONEST about the service you are paying for, it's a free market and you can drop the service if it's not worth it to you. Comcast's mistake was selling you "unlimited" service and then limiting it. That's FRAUD!They're not being honest.
  They have altered one side of a contract without consent. It's no different and Time Warner should be sued just as hard and often as Comcast.
  
  There is no difference.

  17.1.2008 21:06 #12

• Shegax

  Doesn't matter to you! But EVERYONE ELSE Does see a problem with this. This is bad business practice! We are already behind speed wise compared to Europe which has had fiber optics for a while now. This will cause major backlash from consumers. It's not just them however. If they need more servers then make more servers, they make tons of money off of all of us as it is! This is not progress, this is taking many steps backwards! Consumers are being given the short end of the stick on many different things! This is all about squeezing us out of our money period! The cost of new servers is nothing compared to the profits they declare every year! My uncle said it best when he said: whenever you scratch you head about things in america not making any sense remember the saying: Profit over progress....always.

  17.1.2008 21:08 #13

• mspurloc

  Originally posted by jimmer: this is stupid
  then they should pay their customers who have leftover bandwidth at the end of every monthBINGO!
  You've put your finger on the injustice of the business model, bud.
  
  The ISPs are holding us back deliberately because they're making out like pigs forcing crappy service down our throats and doling out tiny doses of bandwidth at ridiculous prices.
  
  It's time to bust them up and DEMAND fiber, WANs and 21st Century technology for our money.
  
  Comcast and Time Warner should BE DESTROYED.

  17.1.2008 21:11 #14

• freddotu

  I'm an Earthlink user piggy-backed on Time Warner/Brighthouse. As others have said, if they tack on more charges, they will lose a paying customer while I switch to DSL.
  
  The big guns come out if Verizon ever puts in FIOS in my area or anyone else's. What Verizon should do is find where TW plans to put on the caps and drop FIOS (fiber to the home) and see where their revenue ends up!

  17.1.2008 22:04 #15

• c1c

  How is Verizon doing in their internet service? I am looking at their nationwide wireless service, anything that can be an alternative from ConCast

  17.1.2008 22:10 #16

• Blackjax

  Unlimited bandwidth as it has been advertised is/was BS. People do not read the fine print on their TOS. ALL ISP's reserve the right to change things. They would do it daily if they could! Imposing a cap is like trying to get the genie back in the bottle. They let the damn thing out and now wonder why they have problems.
  
  I can say the equipment to keep these networks up and running is very expensive ($50k plus in some cases). You don't use plain old cat5 on these "routers"! Yes those who are computer literate know they have been schemed but remember folks for every one of you out there there are 10-20 who have no clue or even care about it!
  
  If you really want to know why the cable companies are worried go check out iptv and whats happening there! That stuff is going to give them a run for their money IMHO. Can you say price war in the consumers favor!

  18.1.2008 00:44 #17

• Chavo

  Son of a beach! That's not good, my water is already being metered and I can't take long showers, this makes it worse.

  18.1.2008 05:42 #18

• hughjars

  I wonder if this is part of their plan to try to spike downloading as the next HD movie medium?
  
  They're at it all over the world.
  If the big comms corps had put back even a fraction of the massive profits they have been making in the last 10yrs into updating their networks we wouldn't be in this mess.
  
  As it is this kind of rationing is their answer......or pay again for a superfast line & bandwidth.
  Nice of them, huh?

  18.1.2008 08:44 #19

• Weirdo007

  Quote:They're not being honest.
  They have altered one side of a contract without consent. It's no different and Time Warner should be sued just as hard and often as Comcast.
  
  There is no difference.Actually they do have your consent. Read the your contract thoroughly, most businesses have a clause in their service agreements that states roughly they can change programming packages, services, price increase, etc etc" wioth little or no warning, and as they see fit. Sucks but that's how it is. Don't like it, I'd find another provider.

  18.1.2008 09:32 #20

• maryjayne

  I thought the video industry was looking to start online video and TV watching sites. If there is a bandwidth cap and/or a pay per bit plan set up by the ISPs then online video watching will get shot down.

  18.1.2008 10:53 #21

• LiveChaos

  I wonder if a lawsuit against anyone capping service by Netflix and the like looms on the horizion.

  18.1.2008 11:31 #22

• Redlink42

  This is pretty sad. I've been enjoying Broadband speeds for several months from Time Warner Cable, but if their little 'venture' to Texas is successful...
  
  Time to switch back to Bellsouth DSL.

  18.1.2008 12:33 #23

• mspurloc

  Originally posted by Weirdo007: Quote:They're not being honest.
  They have altered one side of a contract without consent. It's no different and Time Warner should be sued just as hard and often as Comcast.
  
  There is no difference.Actually they do have your consent. Read the your contract thoroughly, most businesses have a clause in their service agreements that states roughly they can change programming packages, services, price increase, etc etc" wioth little or no warning, and as they see fit. Sucks but that's how it is. Don't like it, I'd find another provider.Another provider who will do the same damn thing if this kind of crud isn't stopped now...stopped cold.
  
  And as for their clauses, they mean nothing. If anyone had the money and determination to fight them on it in court, they'd win. The airlines put garbage like this in their agreements, too. These unilateral additions lose in court every time they're contested properly.

  18.1.2008 15:22 #24

• BcMester

  Originally posted by maryjayne: I thought the video industry was looking to start online video and TV watching sites. If there is a bandwidth cap and/or a pay per bit plan set up by the ISPs then online video watching will get shot down.That's exactly what they want to happen, kill online video so we go back to the good old DVD disc. Or bluray, whatever. This whole capping thing is bollox and very easily classifies as false advertising IMO.

  18.1.2008 16:26 #25

• goodswipe

  Ahh, good ol' Time Warner (Present day Nazi's) doing what they do best, fkn over the customer. Things like this here is why I canceled service through them.

  18.1.2008 17:01 #26

• denbid

  Let's face it their meter will be true and accurate ha ha. I already monitor what I use and I feel they owe me but will I get it? NO. Being out in no mans land we get bad service and we have to live with that. Lawyers won't touch it and I really don't have the money to fight any way. I think I'll go back to the old way and tap my neighbors cable and suck up their bandwidth or we could all plot together and shut down are TVs and internet for a week and demand a refund for service not used oh wait we can't do that hmmm what a trap. Even when the service goes down all I got was a free bag of microwave popcorn (boy did I feel special). The consumer once again is being ripped off with out a means of fighting back, I do like the idea of paying my bill with pennies.

  18.1.2008 20:16 #27

• jverhey

  I am in Japan now and no longer a Time Warner customer but the rest of my family is. I have 100MBPS with my unlimited phone service all for about $65 a month. Time Warner has 5MBPS and no phone for $60 a month. By the end of next year it seems you will have bandwidth caps on your 3 to 6 MBPS connections where in Japan they expect to be launching gigabit internet which will be at the same price as the 100MBPS. Warner has more customers and a much higher price and profit margin and exclusive markets which they bought from the Government and are too greedy to spend a dime to improve their system. Now this is really funny because like England and Canada most everything here costs twice as much as it does in America. America created the Internet and gave us broad band and now they are a@@ raping the customers and have dropped to I believe the last time I read the stats to 16th or 20th in the world. A couple of more years like that and 3rd world countries will have better internet than the US but thank god we are protecting Wall Street's profits
  
  It will never happen because people are like sheep for the most part but every Time Warner customer should call them on Monday morning and tell them they are switching to DSL. I am telling you this is Pandora's Box if they open the top in Texas you will never be able to close it and you will be back to the old dial-up plan at pay as you go.
  This reminds you of the Big 3 Auto in the US don’t make it better but keep raising the price then look shocked when Toyota is #1.
  
  IN AMERICA YOU VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLAR SO START VOTING PEOPLE AND PASS THIS IDEA AROUND TO AS MANY AS YOU CAN.

  18.1.2008 21:41 #28

• dappy123

  Yes, this only moves Google closer to owning the world. Remember G is "experimenting" with "free" internet access. Bring on WiMax. Also, other choices will become available in the near future. BRING IT ON!!

  19.1.2008 00:40 #29

• Blackjax

  @jverhey
  One of the reasons that your cost is lower is due to population density. More people in a smaller area = more subs for the cost of your fiber = more profit. Lower density in the US = less subs = less profit for your network costs. Once again it boils down to money and bueracy
  
  FYI- The FCC definition of high speed is 200kbps or higher. I don't know what it is in other countries.

  19.1.2008 00:47 #30

• hermes_vb

  Go FIOS!!!!!

  19.1.2008 03:33 #31

• OFI

  Originally posted by DVDdoug: Comcast's mistake was selling you "unlimited" service and then limiting it. That's FRAUD!ISPs have been doing this in the UK for years, there's been uproar about it, OFCOM (the ISP omdubsman ro whatever it is) has had loads of complaints and they still manage to get away with it.
  Some of the latest mobile broadband packages are advertised as unlimited but have a 'fair use policy' of 3GB!!
  I think the problem is the ISPs get out of it by associating the 'unlimited' term with the amount of minutes access, undterred by the fact that having unlimited minutes of access the the whole point of DSL!
  
  My old ISP changed my cap from 30GB/mo on my High Bandwidth User package to 10GB overnight. IT was next to useless for me after that. But with a 12 month contract and a contract that said thay could change the terms how I liked they refused to close the account unless I paid it off for the remaining monthes (Just over $300)

  19.1.2008 04:41 #32

• Wild9

  I am already being restricted on my download speed and that is not because I abuse the service, it’s because of the infrastructure. I don't appreciate the thought of my service being further hampered because I might be consired in breach of T&C, especially on such a weak premise. We live in the age of mass media and therefore it's not our fault if we amass bandwidth, not unless we truly do abuse the service. Most don't.
  
  I think Time Warner's actions will result in a ruthlessly unsustainable business model; all it will end up doing is penalising those who are unwilling to pay extortionate amounts of money in order to receive unlimited bandwidth.
  
  Yes, I appreciate some people do abuse the service. I am not disputing that. However, I would have presumed that technology had moved on since the last time this issue was brought up..in fact technology has moved on yet it appears Time Warner hasn’t. We now live in an age where movies, games and radio streaming are all taken for granted..where what would have been considered fast technology a couple of years ago is now the norm.
  
  And where Time Warner gets these figures from..well, perhaps that should be brought to light. I seriously doubt that number of people routinely abuse the service and even if that were the case..let’s actually look at what they are doing. For you’d be surprised just how quickly viewing video sites can rack up the bandwidth.
  
  Finally, does Time Warner want revenue or not? You see, it’s customers are using it’s hardware..it’s advertising space. Turn those customers away or force them to pay more and you will loose, simple as. This is a buyer’s market and unless you cater to the buyer’s needs..you’re out of the game.
  
  Is this really about the fear of competition, I wonder?
  
  Other ISP’s have tried to cap their bandwidth..and failed miserably. Upgrade the infrastructure, the service, the customer support and only go after the minority who do put a strain on the service. Don’t penalise the majority for doing nowt wrong.

  19.1.2008 06:58 #33

• joe5454us

  I had to cancel Time Warner (Roadrunner)last week as the support hung up on me after I complained about slow download speeds (more then once). My wife didn't believe me and called and was put on hold for 21/2 hours then she hung up. Downloads speed was 1/4 of what Adelphia was before the buy out. This plan was almost 50$ a month for just internet. I support cancel and let your dollars speak. You may be limited right now and are not aware of it.

  19.1.2008 09:27 #34

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Shegax: Doesn't matter to you! But EVERYONE ELSE Does see a problem with this. This is bad business practice! We are already behind speed wise compared to Europe which has had fiber optics for a while now. This will cause major backlash from consumers. It's not just them however. If they need more servers then make more servers, they make tons of money off of all of us as it is! This is not progress, this is taking many steps backwards! Consumers are being given the short end of the stick on many different things! This is all about squeezing us out of our money period! The cost of new servers is nothing compared to the profits they declare every year! My uncle said it best when he said: whenever you scratch you head about things in america not making any sense remember the saying: Profit over progress....always.
  Well said, they are in fact price gouging over acquainted services and that has to stop....

  19.1.2008 13:38 #35

• NunYoBus

  Originally posted by c1c: How is Verizon doing in their internet service? I am looking at their nationwide wireless service, anything that can be an alternative from ConCastI've Verizon wireless for about 6 years I stick with them because in the area I live in in Western MA, and where my Daughter goes to School (New Mexico) verizon is about the only service that works in all the places I travel. I also have their DSL which sucks because they throttle my bandwith. So it seems that Time/Warner is just trying to do it to get more money instead of just throttling. After all they need to get back some of the money from the crummy movies they have released over the years.

  19.1.2008 13:43 #36

• nyurbiz

  I have had more screw ups on TW's service in two years than SWBell DSL for over 5 years. Have not explored ATT's Uverse service, but it and Verizon are available in the Dallas metro area with more service coverage every day. The cable industry has been the devil in my eyes for decades, and I would love an excuse to jump ship to a better server. A buddy has FiOS and loves it. He has 15mb internet, but they have 30mb service available. At the beginning of each month, ALL of the movies that HBO and the other premium movie channels have are available as video on demand. I think he gets phone service too, but not sure about that. Thanks TW, think you will soon lose many customers. Good riddance.

  19.1.2008 13:47 #37

• Bluto1841

  They already throttle it by randomly dropping incoming email from your inbox. I was missing a newsletter and inquired if they decided not to allow me access to it. They advised me that in order to control traffic and bandwidth that they decided that it was SPAM and they had the right to drop it. This truly is controlling bandwidth without my permission. I told them that they better get more servers rather than take my email and dump it. How dare they drop my email??
  
  What surprised me was the wording in their operating rules that allow them to do it.

  19.1.2008 15:38 #38

• agrimm

  "Throttling"? Charging for "overage"? "Filtering" my content? What a load of hooey. For them to expect the amount of protest they actually did receive and then still go forward with this insanity is almost laughable. I'm glad I'm with Cavalier. Good subscribers deserve better.

  26.1.2008 10:28 #39

• bstringer

  Time Warner bought out Adelphia here in the Buffalo area about a year ago. Maximum download speeds went from 550 kB/s to 470 kB/s. Now they want an extra $10/month to upgrade to Turbo. Well, Verizon has just laid the fiber optic cable in our neighborhood and should have FIOS up and running in a few months. I plan to switch and get about 3 MB/s download and 500 kB/s upload speed (over 10X faster than I'm getting now).

  28.1.2008 02:33 #40

• Amir89

  Your not alone Americans, this is happening in other countries too.
  
  Here in Australia, there's no such thing as "unlimited" ADSL/Cable packages anymore. Pretty much every major ISP throttles usage these days, it's absolutely shocking, considering the fact that our high-speed Internet Access infrastructure is comparable to that of Poland's...
  
  Our Internet Speeds are ranked slower than a lot of third world nations, and our national Carrier Telstra is in the process of being privatized to offshore companies, so currently it's in a state of hiatus, with no way of knowing when or who will be taking over.
  
  

  Current Specs:
  Intel82801BA Mobo, Intel D 945G @3.4Ghz, 2x2Mb L2 Cache, 1Gb DDR2 SD RAM @677Mhz, 250Gb WD Caviar @10,000Rpm, GeForce7600GT 512MB GDDR2, ASUSTek Tiger Digital/Analog TV Tuner, Samsung SyncMaster941BW 19" LCD, LG H20L DVD±R/RW DL LightScribe, LG GSA-4167B DVD±R/RW DL, Logitech Z-5500 505Watt 5.1 Surround
  
  

  28.1.2008 07:35 #41

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Amir89: Your not alone Americans, this is happening in other countries too.
  
  Here in Australia, there's no such thing as "unlimited" ADSL/Cable packages anymore. Pretty much every major ISP throttles usage these days, it's absolutely shocking, considering the fact that our high-speed Internet Access infrastructure is comparable to that of Poland's...
  
  Our Internet Speeds are ranked slower than a lot of third world nations, and our national Carrier Telstra is in the process of being privatized to offshore companies, so currently it's in a state of hiatus, with no way of knowing when or who will be taking over.this is what happens when big biz is left uncheck.
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!
  ---
  And for the format nazi's I bring you HHD DVVD BVD's!!
  

  28.1.2008 11:29 #42

• borhan9

  Quote:The memo explained that the first subscribers subject to the bandwidth cap test would be in Beaumont, Texas with a national deployment following if the company finds the system to be practical. The customers will have their bandwidth metered and charges will be applied if the caps are exceeded.I got up to here in the article and i have to say this will not work if customers will be charged if they exceed limits there would be an uproar. They will not last long in the market i dont care if its high speed or not. If you hit consumers back pockets you will loose big time.

  16.2.2008 17:51 #43

• tom_1

  www.cablehack.net check forums out or come to efnet #cablehack .. to learn more about your isp

  3.3.2008 16:43 #44