If Weird Al Yankovic released a hokey broadband-inspired knockoff of a Steppenwolf classic (a terrifying thought), it might start off something like this:
Get your meter running, on the info super highway. Looking for adventure? You're gonna have to pay. Yeah, they're going to make it happen, waive a Gigabyte cap in your face. Track all your 'net usage at home and charge you more change.
As widely reported, and lambasted, Time Warner Cable Inc. is trialing metered broadband Internet usage in Texas. (See TWC Tees Up Metered Internet Trial [1].) AT&T's CTO recently said the largest U.S. telco is planning its own usage-based trial this fall. In Canada, the trial period is over, as Rogers Communications Inc. will start billing customers next month for usage beyond predetermined monthly thresholds. (See Rogers Takes Internet Meter to the Masses [2].) What gives?
It seems North Americans are now beginning to experience what broadband life is like for consumers in many other countries. In October 2007, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [3] (OECD) released an analysis of the Internet access models in its 30 member nations and found that ISPs in more than half applied data caps to their subscribers.
What is interesting about the shift in North America is that over the past decade broadband providers here have incessantly rebuked any notion that they might become "dumb pipes [4]."
Nothing seems more insulting than the idea that they would be relegated to the status of a mere transport utility, selling bandwidth like kilowatts or gallons of water. Apparently, some major MSOs and telcos are becoming masters of the self-fulfilling prophecy. With the advent of metered broadband, cable operators may find they are more like electric and water utilities, or heaven forbid, telephone companies.
Of course, one service cable operators are not metering for these days is telephone. That's typically sold as a flat rate offering with unlimited calling.
It's no secret that consumers despise metered Internet access. Way back when, it was one of the reasons they left AOL LLC [5] in droves for unlimited cable modem service. Today, after cringing at the gas pump as the meter quickly rolls past the cost of their monthly broadband connection, the last thing consumers want to do is calculate the cost of extra cable Internet usage at home.
As unpleasant as metering is, it was a solution endorsed by consumer and network neutrality advocacy groups in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking regulation of Comcast's network management practices. The cooperative February 2008 filing by Free Press and Public Knowledge noted:
Network providers would most efficiently manage their networks not by blocking applications, but by charging users for the users’ bandwidth use. If users must pay for the bandwidth they use, then the users will better internalize the costs and benefits of their use. If the users do not pay per-bandwidth of use, then the users have no incentive to conserve their bandwidth.
Well, you asked for it, you got it. Policy wonks see metering as an acceptable method for the equitable management of network congestion. The average consumer just sees higher prices and the annoyance of monitoring their monthly consumption. Frankly, the vast majority of cable Internet users would undoubtedly rather have their provider throttle back the BitTorrent Inc. streams of bandwidth hogs than face a metered broadband experience.
Interestingly, in the race to a pay-per-byte model, it is Comcast Corp. that is crafting a common-sense alternative. (See rumored consumption cap [6] to consider], these users would see their bandwidth reduced during periods of network congestion. In other words, heavy users would be told they already consumed their fair shares of capacity for the month and users that have not will be given priority to available resources.
The strategy avoids two land mines: degrading the performance of individual applications and charging customers extra for consumption. Time will tell whether the approach succeeds in managing network resources without irking regulators or consumers.