Time Warner Cable Will Uncap Service for $150
04.10.09
Total posts: 1
by <A href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345122,00.asp#" s_oc="null">Mark Hachman</A itxtvisited="1">
Time Warner Cable issued a clarification to its proposed caps on Thursday, adding what is essentially a $150 unlimited tier to the high end.
In a statement attributed to Landel Hobbs, chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable and posted to Alongreply.com, Hobbs characterized press reports referring to the company's proposed caps as "premature". The statement was apparently published by Jeff Simmermon, director of communications for Time Warner Cable, who referred to it in a tweet.
The company had previously referred to a so-called 100-Mbyte super tier, without disclosing pricing.
"Some recent press reports about our four consumption based billing trials planned for later this year were premature and did not tell the full story," Hobbs wrote. "With that said, we realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused. We've heard the passionate feedback and we've taken action to address our customers' concerns."
Hobbs said that consumption-based billing has become prevalent overseas, and must be evaluated here in the United States. "If we don't act, consumers' Internet experience will suffer," he wrote. "Sitting still is not an option. That's why we're beginning the consumption based billing trials. It's important to stress that they are trials."
The trials will begin in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August. The official tiers will be, according to Hobbs:
• A 1 GB per month tier offering speeds of 768 Kbytes downstream/128 Kbytes upstream for $15 per month. Overage charges will be $2 per GB per month. TWC's usage data show that about 30 percent of its customers use less than 1 Gbyte per month, Hobbs wrote.
• Road Runner Lite, Basic, Standard and Turbo packages will include expanded bandwidth caps to 10, 20, 40 and 60 GB, respectively, for the same price. Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• A new 100 GB Road Runner Turbo package will be added, offering speeds of 10 MB/1 MB for $75 per month. Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• Overage charges will be capped at $75 per month. "That means that for $150 per month customers could have virtually unlimited usage at Turbo speeds," Hobbs added.
After the trials begin, customers will be offered two months of usage data so that they can assess their usage. After that, a one-month grace period will be instituted before the caps actually begin, allowing consumers a chance to reassess and possibly sign up for a different bandwidth tier, Hobbs wrote.
04.10.09
by <A href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345122,00.asp#" s_oc="null">Mark Hachman</A itxtvisited="1">
Time Warner Cable issued a clarification to its proposed caps on Thursday, adding what is essentially a $150 unlimited tier to the high end.
In a statement attributed to Landel Hobbs, chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable and posted to Alongreply.com, Hobbs characterized press reports referring to the company's proposed caps as "premature". The statement was apparently published by Jeff Simmermon, director of communications for Time Warner Cable, who referred to it in a tweet.
The company had previously referred to a so-called 100-Mbyte super tier, without disclosing pricing.
"Some recent press reports about our four consumption based billing trials planned for later this year were premature and did not tell the full story," Hobbs wrote. "With that said, we realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused. We've heard the passionate feedback and we've taken action to address our customers' concerns."
Hobbs said that consumption-based billing has become prevalent overseas, and must be evaluated here in the United States. "If we don't act, consumers' Internet experience will suffer," he wrote. "Sitting still is not an option. That's why we're beginning the consumption based billing trials. It's important to stress that they are trials."
The trials will begin in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August. The official tiers will be, according to Hobbs:
• A 1 GB per month tier offering speeds of 768 Kbytes downstream/128 Kbytes upstream for $15 per month. Overage charges will be $2 per GB per month. TWC's usage data show that about 30 percent of its customers use less than 1 Gbyte per month, Hobbs wrote.
• Road Runner Lite, Basic, Standard and Turbo packages will include expanded bandwidth caps to 10, 20, 40 and 60 GB, respectively, for the same price. Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• A new 100 GB Road Runner Turbo package will be added, offering speeds of 10 MB/1 MB for $75 per month. Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• Overage charges will be capped at $75 per month. "That means that for $150 per month customers could have virtually unlimited usage at Turbo speeds," Hobbs added.
After the trials begin, customers will be offered two months of usage data so that they can assess their usage. After that, a one-month grace period will be instituted before the caps actually begin, allowing consumers a chance to reassess and possibly sign up for a different bandwidth tier, Hobbs wrote.