Time Warner Caves to the public

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ric1287

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,845
0
0
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Because ~$60/mo is totally more expensive than $75 or $150. :roll:

Well okay, let me be a little charitable. If you had said "more expensive internet for some," I could even agree with you. Because the grandmas at the bottom end of the tiered pricing model may have in fact benefited from it. But this is a tech site and 75% or more of the people here probably exceed 40 GB a month (if not every month then at least some months), thus making a flat-rate plan more affordable for most people here.

It provides great benefit to most in the short term but will likely hurt everyone in the long. Ten years, wait, make that 15 years (now I am feeling old) ago 40gb/month was a lot of traffic. What would happen with tiered pricing is that the limits would not increase with bandwidth inflation. So today's 40 is tomorrow 400.

or nobody would bother developing anything new since nobody has the bandwidth to get it
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
9
0
Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Yea that must be why their rates keep dropping when competition comes into town.

Only time they go up is when they are the only game in town.

rates are dropping?
Jeez in the other thread(s) everyone was saying rates were going up!

Go to an area that only has 1 option and then see what happens when Fios comes in. Soemtimes they lower rates before they get there. Internet here in N.VA is really high in some areas yet just a couple miles down the road where Fios is the rates are 20%+ cheaper.
 

sactoking

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2007
7,647
2,922
136
Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Yea that must be why their rates keep dropping when competition comes into town.

Only time they go up is when they are the only game in town.

rates are dropping?
Jeez in the other thread(s) everyone was saying rates were going up!

Like I said in other posts, my bill has gone up steadily the last 6-7 years. About 40 a month total.

Exactly. And we can expect those trends to continue

Not only has my bill gone DOWN steadily over the past 5-6 years, but now I also can sign up for new service WITHOUT a contract at the same price.
 

sactoking

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2007
7,647
2,922
136
Originally posted by: frostedflakes
edit: Although it sounds like all that's been confirmed is that they don't intend to implement the tiered pricing in Rochester. Nothing has been said about other markets, though, so I guess it's a bit early to start celebrating.

The Texas rollout has been delayed until October. No news on Greensboro yet.
 

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,336
11
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!
Even Time Warner Cable admitted that per-subscriber cost are lower with more subscribers.

TW 10-K

High-speed data costs decreased primarily due to a decrease in per-subscriber connectivity costs, partially offset by growth in subscribers and usage per subscriber.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Originally posted by: spidey07
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

I'm fine with that as long as they use reasonable caps and per GB costs, which TWC's weren't. Perhaps there should be a standard for what constitutes "reasonable," or perhaps the government should quit allowing cable companies to operate without competition from other cable companies.
 

oznerol

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2002
2,476
0
76
www.lorenzoisawesome.com
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: spidey07
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

I'm fine with that as long as they use reasonable caps and per GB costs, which TWC's weren't. Perhaps there should be a standard for what constitutes "reasonable," or perhaps the government should quit allowing cable companies to operate without competition from other cable companies.

Do you think cell phone plans are reasonable? Data charges? SMS charges?
 

ric1287

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,845
0
0
Originally posted by: ducci
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: spidey07
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

I'm fine with that as long as they use reasonable caps and per GB costs, which TWC's weren't. Perhaps there should be a standard for what constitutes "reasonable," or perhaps the government should quit allowing cable companies to operate without competition from other cable companies.

Do you think cell phone plans are reasonable? Data charges? SMS charges?

SMS? No, hell no, hell fucking no. That is the biggest scam in the world...but this 1gb cap bullshit would definitely beat that out.

Cell Data? I can see caps, i use my iphone day and night on 3g and never come close to even 200mb...so a 5gb cap on cell data is fine, but a 5gb cap on a 12mb broadband connection is comically bad.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Originally posted by: ducci
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: spidey07
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

I'm fine with that as long as they use reasonable caps and per GB costs, which TWC's weren't. Perhaps there should be a standard for what constitutes "reasonable," or perhaps the government should quit allowing cable companies to operate without competition from other cable companies.

Do you think cell phone plans are reasonable? Data charges? SMS charges?

No, and that's why I don't use them. Well... that's not entirely honest. Main reason I don't buy them is because I don't think I'd really use them that much and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a new phone that can take advantage of a data plan. But if the prices were more reasonable, I'd be more inclined to consider it.
 

Evadman

Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Feb 18, 2001
30,990
5
81
Originally posted by: spidey07
rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

Why doesn't japan? Oh wait, it's because there is actually competition over there. $40 unlimited with speeds that put all us providers to shame, including fiber. We need competition, not a race to the bottom.
 

oznerol

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2002
2,476
0
76
www.lorenzoisawesome.com
Originally posted by: Evadman
Originally posted by: spidey07
rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

Why doesn't japan? Oh wait, it's because there is actually competition over there. $40 unlimited with speeds that put all us providers to shame, including fiber. We need competition, not a race to the bottom.

While I don't disagree that competition is good, I dislike these "look at Japan" arguments.

Japan is about the size of California and like 5x as dense.
 

ric1287

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,845
0
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.?

Statement from TWC. So the plans for capped connections will just be delayed a little bit. But rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

yeah they probably will, but not because of their precious networks being overworked but because they are greedy and since there is no competition, they can do whatever the fuck they want.
 

ric1287

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,845
0
0
Originally posted by: ducci
Originally posted by: Evadman
Originally posted by: spidey07
rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

Why doesn't japan? Oh wait, it's because there is actually competition over there. $40 unlimited with speeds that put all us providers to shame, including fiber. We need competition, not a race to the bottom.

While I don't disagree that competition is good, I dislike these "look at Japan" arguments.

Japan is about the size of California and like 5x as dense.

but that argument doesn't have anything to do with density (which i agree is a pointless comparison) it has to do with competition. There is no such thing as a new cable internet provider popping up and offering some competition for bastards like TWC.
 

Fayd

Diamond Member
Jun 28, 2001
7,970
2
76
www.manwhoring.com
Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Yea that must be why their rates keep dropping when competition comes into town.

Only time they go up is when they are the only game in town.

rates are dropping?
Jeez in the other thread(s) everyone was saying rates were going up!

"when competition comes into town". they've rolled out docsis 3.0 and such in places where there is serious competition from other ISP's. (Lafayette, LA with their municipal fiber (10/10 for 30/mo i think) that standard ISP's still keep trying to kill off...)
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
40
91
Heres another point that I think is very valid that noone seems to be bringing up. How many will be discouraged from the latest software security updates because it eats into their total?
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Because ~$60/mo is totally more expensive than $75 or $150. :roll:

Well okay, let me be a little charitable. If you had said "more expensive internet for some," I could even agree with you. Because the grandmas at the bottom end of the tiered pricing model may have in fact benefited from it. But this is a tech site and 75% or more of the people here probably exceed 40 GB a month (if not every month then at least some months), thus making a flat-rate plan more affordable for most people here.

It provides great benefit to most in the short term but will likely hurt everyone in the long. Ten years, wait, make that 15 years (now I am feeling old) ago 40gb/month was a lot of traffic. What would happen with tiered pricing is that the limits would not increase with bandwidth inflation. So today's 40 is tomorrow 400.

bingo, its easy to forget how fast things change. but the companies never forget this and its why they know they'd make a mint by freezing progress.

profits are up http://blog.wired.com/business...-cab.html#previouspost
the crying about need for caps comes with this context, they are making ever more profits, and their costs are going down not up.
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
Originally posted by: ducci
Originally posted by: Evadman
Originally posted by: spidey07
rest assured every single provider will move to this kind of "pay for what you use" model for consumer broadband.

Why doesn't japan? Oh wait, it's because there is actually competition over there. $40 unlimited with speeds that put all us providers to shame, including fiber. We need competition, not a race to the bottom.

While I don't disagree that competition is good, I dislike these "look at Japan" arguments.

Japan is about the size of California and like 5x as dense.

The thing is that speeds are still terrible in NYC, and NYC has a high population density. The problem is competition. Democrats have allowed cable companies to establish monopolies through every major city. Then, they intentionally make it hard for upstarts to lay cable by drowning them with fees and regulation. Get rid of the fees, get rid of the regulation, let upstarts lay cable with impunity and we'll see prices drop.
 

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Yea! More internet for all, guess they are going bankrupt now because they are losing so much money :rolleyes:

Sorry man, I agree with you on many things and even partially on this as well as respect your knowledge of the networking world as we know it, but it is very evident that you are a as out of touch with reality as the people who scream they need 1gbps+ connections 24/7 at $12 a month with credits for outages and lower than their "promised" speeds, you are just the opposite end of the spectrum.

The internet, like it or not is just going to get more and more clogged with traffic. We as a nation need to continue building out.

Please present some evidence to support a technical need for usage caps. From what I'm hearing, it's simply both a cash grab by Time Warner, and a mechanism to protect their cable (television) business model from competition from other online sources like Hulu and Netflix.
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
Originally posted by: Old Hippie
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Good.

If the tiers were more reasonable I wouldn't have been quite so against it, but the proposed tiers were stupid low.

:thumbsup:

They went wayyyy outta bounds.

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't even be opposed to a connection fee and then charges per gigabyte if they were charging something reasonable. However, the caps that they were doing were completely ludicrous and the overage charges were robbery.
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
40
91
Originally posted by: Kadarin
Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Originally posted by: spidey07
Yea! More expensive internet for all! Yea!

Yea! More internet for all, guess they are going bankrupt now because they are losing so much money :rolleyes:

Sorry man, I agree with you on many things and even partially on this as well as respect your knowledge of the networking world as we know it, but it is very evident that you are a as out of touch with reality as the people who scream they need 1gbps+ connections 24/7 at $12 a month with credits for outages and lower than their "promised" speeds, you are just the opposite end of the spectrum.

The internet, like it or not is just going to get more and more clogged with traffic. We as a nation need to continue building out.

Please present some evidence to support a technical need for usage caps. From what I'm hearing, it's simply both a cash grab by Time Warner, and a mechanism to protect their cable (television) business model from competition from other online sources like Hulu and Netflix.

I dont disagree with that, but I DO disagree with bitches thinking they need a 30mb connection running @ full rated speed 24/7.

The same people who bitch that they want business level service (constant speed) are most of the people causing the problem.

Personally, if my line speed drops a bit I dont care until it becomes a real problem. I dont need to run speed tests all day long to catch that one time where my speed was 10% less than the "up to" speeds advertised just so I can bitch that Im getting ripped off.

Best effort to get the rated speeds is fine with me if it is truely their best effort, I certainly dont expect 100% of the time I will get my rated line speed.