ISPs May Institute Usage Fees To Counteract Streaming Video Surge

[beer]

If you’ve cut the cable and switched to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu to fill your Sons of Anarchy viewing needs, you might be in for a nasty shock before long: higher prices. No, Netflix isn’t raising its rates again. It’s your Internet connection itself that your wallet should be worried about! Reports say that major U.S. ISPs, including Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cox and AT&T, are experimenting with usage-based Internet fees – not just to quell streaming users’ massive broadband needs, but also to make Netflix less attractive (and traditional cable more attractive) to TV watchers. Most of the largest ISPs sell digital TV services as well, remember?

According to Bloomberg, companies like Time Warner are losing cable customers on quarterly basis, partly because of dish-based alternatives, but mostly due to streaming services. Since streaming services require large amounts of bandwidth, the cable companies (who just so happen to also control your Internet tubes) figure they’ll make the money back by charging heavy users higher Internet usage fees. And if users balk at the higher Internet costs, what do you know? They can always switch back to cable. Win-win for the ISP! According to the article, “Cable companies see usage-based billing as a way to limit the appeal of online services like Netflix and Hulu, and reduce the threat from new entrants like Amazon and Google.” In addition, usage fees are considered by industry insiders as a great way to squeeze out some extra revenue for ISPs, as traditional cable services are losing growth momentum and incurring rising costs.

Thoughts?

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This is a bunch of :shit: ! Saw this coming when ISPs were imposing monthly usage limits a while back ago. Instead of squeeze money out of customers maybe they should squeeze their own efforts and re-think their business model. Failing business employing fail anti-competitive tactics is FAIL !

[CODYQX4]

This is why monopolies must be destroyed. I hate TWC with a passion but they are the only ISP in the area short of paying an arm and a leg for a slow kind of satellite connection.

No way ISP and Phone companies should have so much power over the internet. This is why tehy love cloud computing, so they can rape us with data caps and fees. People are bleeding income as is with everything going up, these companies need broken down (again, because apparently nobody learned from breaking up ATT/Ma Bell or whatever they were back then).

Of course, all these fees will be pocketed instead of actively improving the ancient infrastructure in the USA, which would kill the need to charge for high Netflix use. Why solve the problem when it lets you milk your customers and they have no alternative if they don't like it but to not use the internet?

[beer]

I still remember the absurd and angry feeling when I read at&t's reason behind their monthly limit.

In fact, the top 2% of customers use about 20% of the total capacity on our network. A single high-traffic user can utilize the same amount of data capacity as 19 typical households.

(source:

at&t)

So instead of dealing with the top 2% of high-traffic users, a limit-cap is place on the whole country. :wtf:

After seeing the transition of the first ISP cap, I am not sure what can be done to change the course of these decisions. But I really hope there are regulations or something to counter these unjustified practices.

Edit:

Supplemental Reading:

"Bandwidth hogs" join unicorns in realm of mythical creatures (ars technica)

:cheers:

[myidisbb]

netflix did the studies it costs less then a penny on last mile. if you do not want these cappings please vote the rinos and demcorats out. remember the so called democrat net netural? it was bs because it did not talk about cappings.