According to 13-WHAM, Time-Warner is out with a new proposal for Internet rationing. It's worth a look if you want a good laugh.
On one end, it includes a ridiculously limited RoadRunner "Lite", with a 1GB cap, for $15/month. This special tier will pay double, $2/month, for every extra GB of overage.
On the other end, TWC has finally come up with their number for unlimited Internet access, i.e., what every TWC customer has today. Instead of today's $40/month (if you're a cable subscriber), the new price is $150/month. That's almost a 4X increase -- in the middle of a recession.
It's been clear from the start that Time-Warner execs were asking for immediate, draconian and punitive regulatory oversight, but it wasn't clear until today that they are going to beg for it.
By the way, StoptheCap has been doing a little light reading of TWC's 10-Qs, and they've found that TWC's costs for Internet bandwidth decreased by 11% between 2007 and 2008, and last year TWC said this:
High-speed data costs decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 primarily due to a decrease in per-subscriber connectivity costs, partially offset by subscriber growth. [Emphasis added]
So much for the claim that bandwidth hogs are killing TWC revenue.
Comments
That's absurd, recession or not. To save you the trouble of deleting, I'll refrain from further commentary at this time.
Mac users (OS X): There is a passive meter here. It's not entirely accurate for non-PPP uses, but close enough to find out approsimately how much bandwidth you're consuming.
Linux-type users (including OS X): There's a GPL, non-packet-sniffing meter app here.
Sorry, I don't believe in any other OSes...