Comments on: Tiered Broadband Trials Torment Beaumont

By: Time Warner Expands Metered Broadband Trials and Ups Meter

Time Warner Expands Metered Broadband Trials and Ups Meter — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:29:08 +0000

[...] expanding its metered broadband trials beyond the city of Beaumont, Texas (where AT&T is also conducting tiered broadband trials). Jeff Simmermon, a spokesman for the cable company, says those trials will be coming to four new [...]

By: Jeff Simmermon

Jeff Simmermon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:39:43 +0000

Hi — I’m the digital communications director for Time Warner Cable.

From our side, we’re trying to be as clear as we can about the tiered pricing trial. We’ve announced our intentions well ahead of time, and we’re giving our Beaumont users tools to track their consumption and see how the process works. Our customers in Beaumont have a 3-month grace period to get used to the tools, watch their consumption and make decisions about their service accordingly.

We don’t want to surprise any of our customers with this, and we’re trying to make the transition as transparent as possible. If you have any further questions, you can e-mail me directly at jeff.simmermon@twcable.com.

By: Constance Reader

Constance Reader — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:30:51 +0000

Nayak, tiered pricing is evil because it will be far too easy to confuse and thus dupe/defraud consumers. Read Ms. Higginbotham's sentence:

"AT&T will charge its Beaumont customers $1 for every gigabyte over 150 GB per month, while Time Warner Cable has a set of plans that allow users to download between 5 GB and 40 GB per month before facing overage charges."

Maybe you know what that means, but most consumers have no idea and any attempt to compare the offerings of multiple providers (assuming they live in an area with multiple providers) will cause confusion and uncertainty, and many consumers will wind up paying far more than they need. And don't give the knee-jerk response that it is the consumer's job to educate himself on these issues; consumers barely have time to read the headlines on CNN while caring for a family that's scattered to the four winds most days. Have you ever tried comparing health insurance plans? Same thing.

Then there are those consumers who do not live in an area with multiple providers, making the tiers even more insidious because those consumers have no option but to pay whatever price the sole provider cares to charge, no matter how unjustifiable.

By: Ranjit Nayak

Ranjit Nayak — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:02:31 +0000

As a proponent of metered and tiered pricing, I have to disagree with the notion that tiered pricing is evil. It is equivalent to saying restaurants should only sell buffet meals – A La Carte is forbidden. Someone using the internet primarily for video content is different from someone using it for research and information. The value of the broadband access is intrinsically different for these users. The idea of paying for what you need is’nt very far fetched. Amazon has made “Pay as you use” their mantra for the elastic cloud offering, and users pay only for the hardware resources they consume.

By: austinandrew

austinandrew — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:31:45 +0000

Sorry Texan, but 100,000 people is a small town.

By: Heather Kennedy

Heather Kennedy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:36:59 +0000

I live in a small town. The people I would like to see with tiered or free access to broadband here would not even understand what a gigabyte was, let alone why they were charged for overage. Heck, I don’t even understand the tech side of things, nor should I have to. I just know that my only “choice” was Comcast as Fios wasn’t even available here. I know that anyone who wants computer access takes a spot in line at the library for a few dozen computers. My new office will by default only be offering Comcast service. It will work for what I will need it to do, but choice or tiers isn’t even the conversation I’ll be having—it’s access in the first place.

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:11:33 +0000

Wes, I think metered or tiered is more accurate as caps imply a set stopping point, and both of these plans allow you to go over a cap if one pays.

Texan, my apologies. Calling Beaumont a tiny town is a bias from my growing up in Houston. It does indeed have 100,000 people so perhaps town would have sufficed.

By: Texan

Texan — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:43:28 +0000

Stacey,

Beaumont is an hour from Houston and has well over 100,000 people (2000 census numbers) and acts as the hub to a well populated region. How can you call this a tiny town? That is half the size of Richmond, VA (by the same measure)...would you call that a tiny town too? Having AT&T & Time Warner compete is at least the beginning of competition, isn't it? Please check your facts next time.

By: Wes Felter

Wes Felter — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:42:17 +0000

For the Nth time, it’s capped broadband. Broadband has had speed tiers for a long time.