Everyone seems to be up in arms about how Time-Warner plans to penalize broadband users if they consume too much bandwidth.
The sky is falling, it’s the end of broadband as a buffet service, Time-Warner is evil, consumers are being ripped off, blah, blah, blah.
Look, Time-Warner isn’t being evil; it’s being smart and, arguably, serving the needs of consumers in a better way.
Huh?
People love broadband but they use it in different ways for different reasons. Some people download copious amount of video and data while others like the speed but use it primarily for e-mail and a modest amount of Web surfing. Should both groups pay the price very month? No.
What Time-Warner is really suggesting is the introduction of tiered services based on your usage profile. If you download a lot, they’ll be happy to give you tons of bandwidth if you’re willing to pay for it. If you’re a “regular” broadband user, you’ll be able to select a tier that meets your needs.
This is no different from what BT offers in the U.K. with bronze, silver and gold packages. In Canada, the ISPs such as Rogers and Bell Canada have done the same thing with lite, regular, extreme and ultra-exteme plans. The faster connection you want, the more you pay. Simple.
For Time-Warner, its proposed plan does two things: introduces the concept of tiered service based on bandwidth, and compels heavy users to pay more for more bandwidth. This is something all ISPs are going to embrace sooner or later. Time-Warner’s is going be chastised in the short-term but fairly soon everyone will be doing it.
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Time-Warner’s Being Smart Not Greedy
Everyone seems to be up in arms about how Time-Warner plans to penalize broadband users if they consume too much bandwidth.
The sky is falling, it’s the end of broadband as a buffet service, Time-Warner is evil, consumers are being ripped off, blah, blah, blah.
Look, Time-Warner isn’t being evil; it’s being smart and, arguably, serving the needs of consumers in a better way.
Huh?
People love broadband but they use it in different ways for different reasons. Some people download copious amount of video and data while others like the speed but use it primarily for e-mail and a modest amount of Web surfing. Should both groups pay the price very month? No.
What Time-Warner is really suggesting is the introduction of tiered services based on your usage profile. If you download a lot, they’ll be happy to give you tons of bandwidth if you’re willing to pay for it. If you’re a “regular” broadband user, you’ll be able to select a tier that meets your needs.
This is no different from what BT offers in the U.K. with bronze, silver and gold packages. In Canada, the ISPs such as Rogers and Bell Canada have done the same thing with lite, regular, extreme and ultra-exteme plans. The faster connection you want, the more you pay. Simple.
For Time-Warner, its proposed plan does two things: introduces the concept of tiered service based on bandwidth, and compels heavy users to pay more for more bandwidth. This is something all ISPs are going to embrace sooner or later. Time-Warner’s is going be chastised in the short-term but fairly soon everyone will be doing it.
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