Time Warner to begin internet billing based on usage in SA (updated title) (Earth: contractor, college)

[PopsGuysRule]

Well, I will have to start looking for another job then....
I am on the internet all day long every day. I am an independent contractor and work from home....

I can't pay rates for a full day of internet use....
I often work into the night and frequently on weekends....

This is my sole means of support... What do they expect people like me to do?????

I'm serious and looking for a serious answer.... I am one of hundreds on the roster for two major clients... I would think that all the others out there will be faced with the same dilemma, so there surely must be some way out of it for us.....

[sapphire]

So, does U-verse plan on doing this, or just the evil cable companies? I'll switch to AT&T for sure now--we're just too complacent with TWC right now.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by PopsGuysRule

Well, I will have to start looking for another job then....
I am on the internet all day long every day. I am an independent contractor and work from home....

I can't pay rates for a full day of internet use....
I often work into the night and frequently on weekends....

This is my sole means of support... What do they expect people like me to do?????

I'm serious and looking for a serious answer.... I am one of hundreds on the roster for two major clients... I would think that all the others out there will be faced with the same dilemma, so there surely must be some way out of it for us.....

Unfortunately. I don't have an easy answer for you. Can you build the additional costs into your fees somehow? If everyone (the rest of the contractors) finds themselves in the same boat, I'm sure that the 2 major clients will realize this.

[rd2007]

Competition will destroy this stupid idea because everyeone will dump any company that tries this.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by sapphire

So, does U-verse plan on doing this, or just the evil cable companies?

I don't think we know this answer yet, Sapph.

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

I don't think we know this answer yet, Sapph.

OKey-dokey. Can you let me know ASAP?

[firstclassflyer]

You'll be the first!

[wCat]

Originally Posted by rd2007

Competition will destroy this stupid idea because everyeone will dump any company that tries this.

No they won't. The Competition will jump on the bandwagon and compete WITH them. This is a serious situation and well definitely present a huge disadvantage to those that cannot afford purchasing huge amounts of bandwidth.

Time Warner is priming the market place. They used to offer modems with 4 wireless connections per household. Now they offer homeowners a business class service to 10 wireless connections at no extra charge! Why do you suppose that is? The more computers out there....and the more UTube, huge files being transferred, videos and music...it all uses more bandwidth. We get lulled into "needing" it and liking the easy availability.....then wham....either lose it or pay for it! Mom and pops and independent contractors who rely heavily on computers for work will be seriously effected by the outrageous fees that will be required to continue business as usual.

This will definitely weed out or limit the little guy.....personal use or small businesses.

People need to be educated about how it will effect them. It's bad enough gas is so high, and internet services are now part of "normal" utilities and climbing....cost of living is about to get much more expensive when this takes place. It's a economic nightmare.

Check with the FCC and your state and federal regulators to see what needs to be done to protest this before it happens.

[the_dimwit]

There are several issues, as I see it:

1) 250 GB is really a lot of data, especially when the counter resets on the first of the month. The max a DVD (dual-layer) can hold is 8.5GB; Blu-Ray's max is 50GB. That's a LOT of data, even if you're pulling video streams off the Internet (via AppleTV or Netflix, for example).

2) While I don't like capped Internet connectivity, it's not new. Corporate customers have had this for ages. When I worked in the telecommunications industry, we had clients who were given a certain "hard" limit on bandwidth. They could break the limit once in a while (a process known as the "committed burst rate"), but excessive bursting resulted in added charges. Companies are simply starting to extend this philosophy to private users.

3) In the "old days," bandwidth worked much like the airline industry. Telecommunications companies routinely "oversell" circuits in order to maximize profit (much like the airlines overbook seats). The reasons for doing so are similar to airlines, but instead of counting on cancellations, the telecommunications companies know that not everyone will use the Internet connection at the same time. This results in "dead air" if overselling is not implemented.

However, things have been changing over the last few years. Home-based users are pulling major amounts of bandwidth (whether from downloading huge movie files or Internet gaming). The old concept of overselling is starting to break down, and companies aren't making the money they once were.

Enter capped bandwidth for home-based users. It stinks, but we might as well get used to it. I wouldn't be surprised if wireless carriers started doing the same within he next few years. (Verizon already caps broadband usage...)

--Dim

[Blue Dog]

Sorry, sapphire but I heard that AT&T wanted to limit the internet too!