If broadband pricing plans are no longer “unlimited,” but increasingly granular and usage-sensitive, one can predict massive disruptions in the current ecosystem. As with all such shifts, this will create new opportunities and drive new technology breakthroughs. Here are some thoughts Read More »
Tech
Two decades ago Tim Berners-Lee invented the browser, HTML, and the web, but things took off six years later when America Online switched from pay-by-the minute dial-up to unlimited flat-rate plans, causing usage per sub to more than triple. But pay-per use is coming back. Read More »
The debate over the implementation of usage-based billing frameworks (so-called “metered billing”) for broadband services is far from over, but some execs view it as inevitable. If that is indeed the case, what would be a fair construct? Or is it even possible to be fair? Read More »
With broadband, as with other utilities such as electricity and water, people should pay for what they use, according to an editorial in The Financial Times today. Demand and use of the Internet has risen faster than capacity can keep up, which means that… Read More »
We know many of our readers have strong opinions about the idea of consumption-based broadband, and we’ve come out against plans that constrain folks’ access to broadband, especially by way of metered packages that consist of low ceilings and high overage fees. But Rob… Read More »
Comcast is ramping up activity on its Fancast premium content portal. The cableco has been a busy beaver lately, going back to the networks and studios to get online rights to content so you can watch as much “Rescue Me” as you like…provided you can authenticate… Read More »
Updated throughout with confirmation, comment from Time Warner: Time Warner Cable, which last month announced plans to expand its metered broadband trials to four more cities, today backed away from its controversial efforts to price broadband based on consumption, including in the city of Rochester,… Read More »
Time Warner Cable will offer users unlimited broadband for $150, it said last night when it released pricing plans for its metered broadband efforts. A quick check this morning shows that the pricing isn’t just a 285 percent increase over my current $39 a month… Read More »
The metered bandwidth malaise that is spreading across the U.S. — Internet service providers such as Cox, Comcast, Charter, Time Warner and AT&T are all dabbling at restricting your monthly bandwidth — is taking root in other parts of the world. In India, two major… Read More »
Beginning on Wednesday, Comcast is going to start capping the total amount of data you can transfer using their broadband connection, to 250GB per month. In order to give you a better understanding of the issues at hand, I have teamed up with my old friend… Read More »
It should hardly come as a surprise to anyone — but nevertheless a survey conducted by International Data Corporation on behalf of Zeugma Systems, a company that makes an edge router for broadband networks, shows that consumers simply hate bandwidth caps and will likely… Read More »
Updated: Comcast, the largest cable company in the world, has started to send emails to its subscribers letting them know about bandwidth limits the company is going to impose, starting Oct. 1, 2008. As it was reported earlier, the company had said that if people… Read More »
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