Time Warner Cable (TWC) will begin testing a program where internet subscribers pay based on usage.
According to Reuters "the company believes the billing system will impact only heavy users, who account for around 5 percent of all customers but typically use more than half of the total network bandwidth."
The move could be a gradual shift in the way broadband companies bring in money. Subscribers who do a great deal of data or video downloading eat up a huge portion of total bandwidth used by residential customers putting a load on cable company facilities.
The move raises the issue of whether internet fees could completely change in the US. If the cable companies can pull it off, it might represent a substantial increase in the revenue that the firms can pull out of their markets.
The cable customer is about to have the screws put to him.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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