Digital Savant

By Justin

April 16, 2009 10:53 PM | Link to this

This is great. Keep reducing my service (now we don't get the Channel 7 TV Guide any more... how convenient is THAT?), increasing my bill, and now trying to prevent me from getting the content elsewhere? Please Grande... when are you going to offer your services in my neighborhood?

By HT

April 10, 2009 2:10 AM | Link to this

Creative Austinites need to get on the stick and stand up to TWC to prevent this atrocity from becoming standard reality. And while y'all are at it, try to remember that every time you watch Hulu, you are stealing from creatives and putting money in pockets of executives.

By Jim K.

April 9, 2009 12:39 PM | Link to this

Now we know the real reason for TWs tiered rate hike: "AP:Time Warner CEO awarded $21.5M 2008 pay package" Good bye time warner. I hope you get what you deserve.

By Karen

April 8, 2009 8:43 AM | Link to this

I have audio of Dudley on WOAI Radio (April 2) saying that Price Lock Guarantee customers would be exempt from the new tiered pricing. Go to:

http://radio.woai.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=joepagsshow.xml

Listen to the following segment:
4-2-09 Pags Show
Hr 3 Part 1
Time Warner raising rates

I e-mailed Dudley to let him know I have this (also saved it). Wonder how TWC will weasel out of this one

By Karen

April 8, 2009 8:36 AM | Link to this

I have audio of Dudley on WOAI Radio (April 2) saying that Price Lock Guarantee customers would be exempt from the new tiered pricing. Go to:

Listen to the following segment:
4-2-09 Pags Show
Hr 3 Part 1
Time Warner raising rates

I e-mailed Dudley to let him know I have this (also saved it). Wonder how TWC will weasel out of this one.

By JJ

April 8, 2009 5:53 AM | Link to this

TW has raised my bill $5.00 a month every year for the last 10 or maybe even 15 years. Now AOL Time Warner Cable wants to go back to the days of charging me for every 1 or 0 that goes across the wire. No I have had it! I guess they don't realize we are in a recession economy. They of all companies should cut prices across the board. So you want to meter my service because you can't deliver any quality entertainment and are scared of Netflix and Hulu. And lets not forget that they cant even compete with the telecommunications companies like AT&T or Vonage T-mobile @ Home or even Skype and MagicJack. OK AOL TWC start charging me 1 red cent more and I will switch to AT&T's Fiber Uverse. That's correct and Bye AOL!

By jamsim

April 7, 2009 5:52 PM | Link to this

This is not benefit anybody except time warner. [very naughty word] you time warner, I'm going somewhere else. Where? Anywhere but here.

By RG

April 6, 2009 3:17 PM | Link to this

Omar --

Do you have any details on whether TWC is going to be held accountable for their speeds now? They sell certain speed tiers, but do not deliver them to most users. I assume their bandwidth caps will be less forgiving than their speed tolerance. Do they have any plans to guarantee QoS now that they will be pricing like they are doing QoS guarantees?

By Andrew

April 6, 2009 5:38 AM | Link to this

Thats messed up. Seems like it's unfair some how. Ill be switching to Comcast.

By James

April 5, 2009 1:16 PM | Link to this

Whats even worse is the Internet Tools that whine,
Well if you use the bandwidth you should have to pay!!!
my answer to them is, if you dont know *&^% about a subject keep your ignorant mouth shut, and %&#@ you Time Warner. I will GLADLY give up the 1mbs download speed advantage and go to AT&T Dsl for 5 bucks less per month

By Joel P.

April 4, 2009 11:03 PM | Link to this

Just what I need. I have ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and internet is pretty much my only real link to the world, thru movies (legal variety only), email and browsing the net.

I'm aware of several shut-ins with horrible illnesses in my same situation. This sort of billing will cause many handicaped people on fixed incomes to finalize their total loss of connection with the world. Do the greedy have any ideas as to how severe this may impact so many?

Thanks for all the compassion Time Warner!!

By Mike

April 4, 2009 7:27 PM | Link to this

I think that this is about VOD. TWC wants people to pay for the CRAPPY VOD service through Digital Cable rather than downloading HD movies through services like iTunes or Netflix. Think about it!!!!

This is not about what it costs to deliver broadband. TWC makes GOBS of money on RoadRunner service. This is about forcing people to use their inferior VOD service to buy movies online. They dont want you having access to Netflix and iTunes and other downloading services because that cuts in on their profits from VOD. The only thing that they can do about that...limit you from downloading them. SIMPLE. and on their part...EVIL GENIUS!!!!!!!!

By Lam

April 4, 2009 2:19 PM | Link to this

I don't get how countries like Japan and S. Korea can get 1Gps fiber lines linked up to their home for $50 a month but in America, we are moving backwards in services to tiered data cap pricing...

America seriously needs some Washington regulation because deregulation is NOT working.

By Steve Opperman

April 3, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this

I can't see tiered pricing helping anyone except Time Warner and it's just like the oil companies' outrageous price increases two years ago. They are doing it because they can. Not because it's costing them more to provide the service, not because they are subsidizing illegal downloads on the internet, and not for any other humanitarian or socially motivated reason. The reason is to improve the bottom line for Time Warner.

I don't begrudge any company a profit on it's services or products, but I do object to unreasonable profits like double or triple what they have been making simply because their PR department can sell this as a "good thing" or even a "necessary thing" but at the same time, keep the real figures under the table so that no one really knows for sure. We're going to use a meter provided by Time Warner to determine what our bandwidth comsumption is? Lets face it. Time Warner is going to conduct the "test" on tiered pricing in Austin and San Antonio. They are going to collect the data. They are going to review the data, and they are going to set the pricing scheme at a level that will insure them an increase in revenues. What else would we expect? It's not like they are having Price Waterhouse to come in and conduct the audit and figure out what's best for everyone involved.

One other thing I would like to mention. When I first heard about this on Twitter, I sent an email to Melissa.Sorola@twcable.com. She is the Regional Director for Communications for the Texas Region. That was two days ago. So far, I have received no response from anyone.

By anm

April 3, 2009 2:02 PM | Link to this

This is complete BUSH!! I live in LA and the only option I have for broadband internet is TW and they are the worst rip off ever. I pay for a service that doesn't work half the time and the other half it is completely slow! I also have cable service with them - thanks to the monopoly they have on cable service here and there again, I am paying for a service that doesn't work. TW has supposedly been spending money on improving their customer service when what they need to do is put that money back into basic (yes, basic) infrastructure. Once they've redeemed themselves as being quality service providers - maybe - then perhaps they should rethink their pricing structure. Until then, we should all rally against this travesty on the utility industry!!

By Mason

April 3, 2009 1:56 PM | Link to this

I would think that by contract law TW already has a specified cap for my tier - it 8Mbps - which equates to an agreed to deliver 2566 GB/mo on average if I so choose. That's a 98.5% reduction in the agreed commitments.

I smell a class action lawsuit.

By Rob w

April 3, 2009 1:29 PM | Link to this

I've been thinking of the best way to punish Time Warner if I'm left with no alternative but to use their new sub-standard service.

I've come up with this: Simply, if you *must* use their service for internet, call them up and calmly explain to them that as punishment you will be switching your cable *tv* service to a satellite provider. That takes money out of their pockets in a big way, the key is linking it to their abusive new policy so they know why you're dumping their cable TV service. This is real and it hits them in the pocket book. If the situation requires a "guerrilla war" to derail this, then so be it. Most satellite providers will be more than happy to give you an incentive to leave Time Warner as well.

By martix

April 3, 2009 12:36 PM | Link to this

If you can't get Grande, don't wait for them. The folks over at Channel Austin have been talking for months about how Grande is out of money and for sale.

By Don T.

April 3, 2009 10:55 AM | Link to this

We should start A brick mailing campaign. Basically every one mails a brick to a TWC address (the local austin branch would be perfect) using a flat box at the post office.

As with brick mailing protest in the past the receiving office gets hundreds of bricks and has no place to store them.

We could include a note that they are receiving bricks in protest to the metered bandwidth cap plan.

By byebyebeepbeep

April 3, 2009 9:10 AM | Link to this

Somone put a facebook group together about this topic.

By tech8

April 3, 2009 8:59 AM | Link to this

I find all this outrage interesting. Wake up people! Bandwith costs money. These are privately
owned companies that need to make a profit to survive. It costs money to upgrade. Cable companies have long known their biz model is going to have to change as increasing amounts of video are downloaded. Traffic shaping or metered
billing is inevitable. As always 2% of the users
consume 50% of the capacity. These are the people complaining the most. The same kind of metered billing is coming or already here for all internet users regardless of who the provider is. Get used to it.

By JKitchens

April 3, 2009 5:49 AM | Link to this

Almost 400 signatures in 24 hours... Let's keep signing.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nocap

By Dylan Tynan

April 2, 2009 9:06 PM | Link to this

More thoughts on this:

See the Supreme Court decision, written by that MENSA member (ha!) Clarence Thomas at www.redorbit.com/news/technology/158455/cable_companies_dont_need_to_share_lines/

Companies with a limited monopoly on an infrastructure-type service are basically the worst of all possible worlds. No-open-bid defense contracts in Iraq would be a comparable position -- providing a service for people but with little government oversight, a unfettered profit motive, and no competition. Brilliant.

Good thing the government still handles most of the roads themselves .. I'd hate to have to buy the 40-mile a week plan and pay $1/mile over to Austin Time Warner Transportation.

Dylan Tynan

By Dylan Tynan

April 2, 2009 8:46 PM | Link to this

The big problem is that the tiers expose customers to far too much risk in their billing. Example:
1. Your comp gets a virus/spyware that xfers tons of data without your knowledge. This is common.
2. Your POP/IMAP mailreader dloads your TW email, including spam that you had no control over receiving
3. Net errors or intentional traffic is sent from the net to your IP without you doing anything.
4. Someone jumps on your open wireless.
5. You accidentally share a drive to the net
6. You install all pkgs in linux & updates total gigs.
etc

Dylan

By Joe

April 2, 2009 8:39 PM | Link to this

Well TW is losing a business and personal customer here. I wanted to show them how much love I have for them so I also created an Austin Time Warner Sucks group on facebook. Join if ya wish.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=68301126695&ref=nf

hmmm.. or maybe I should buy stock in TimeWarner and get an SBC line and send lots of traffic to TimeWarner IPs.

Joe

By MichaelM

April 2, 2009 8:12 PM | Link to this

I was just thinking...I'm not an engineer or mathematician, but if I watch one hi-def channel 24 hours a day for a 30-day month, and each show is 350 megabytes in size, then am I not "downloading" to my TV 24x7x350 = 252 gigabytes of data. Let's say I have 2 TVs and round it to 500 Gb per month. TWC has no problem with this because I'm just watching TV.

I can pay perhaps as little as $35 a month to "download" hi-def TV shows all day and night--as long as it's to my TV. Why is downloading to my computer so much different?

By Jacob

April 2, 2009 6:48 PM | Link to this

Don't believe a word this evil company says. The infrastructure is already built for the most part. It's all about the money.. DON"T they get enough from all of us. Read this article. These guys specialize in tech and know what they are talking about.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/get-ready-for-metered-broadband-texas.ars

By SeeyaTimeWarner

April 2, 2009 6:05 PM | Link to this

40 GB/mo is a joke... guess what their cost per gig is? around 3 cents... lets add in the maintenance of the local cable plant (if we could actually separate the data side from the video side which we cant because they are the same plant)whats that put it at... 10 cents a gig? and they are charging $1 a gig overage?

see ya time warner... hello AT&T

By Carrie

April 2, 2009 5:33 PM | Link to this

This is interesting, from http://twitter.com/jeffTWC. That those under contract will not be affected by the tiers. I wonder if I sign up now, will I be affected? Hmmm...

By Trey

April 2, 2009 2:33 PM | Link to this

I think this new Time Warner policy absolutely sucks. My entire team at work is talking about it. Everyone’s initial reaction was that they were going to cancel their service with Time Warner and move to another carrier. I truly hope that Time Warner execs burn in H*** for this. What kind of company markets\offers essentially unlimited residential broadband bandwidth for 10+ years and then decides they can CAP it? Morons! Hey Time Warner, your new business model sucks!

By Stan

April 2, 2009 1:56 PM | Link to this

I just heard (from Twitter) that Time-Warner setup a new email account to collect your:

"...complaints about consumption-based billing. EMAIL realideas@twcable.com - that way we can see them all in one place."

I guess they're getting flooded with emails over this. So please register your complaints to them - I'm hoping this may help convince TW not to follow through with this misguided idea.

By dan

April 2, 2009 1:33 PM | Link to this

This really sucks. I have no other choices other than RR or i would switch.

With the levels they are putting in it isn't about bandwidth usage, it's about price discrimination to extract maximum profits. I'm all for free enterprise but in this case there is no competition.

By Sabrina

April 2, 2009 11:12 AM | Link to this

I'd been thinking about switching from AT&T DSL to TWC. No more!

By Emanuel

April 2, 2009 11:09 AM | Link to this

Thankfully I switched to UVerse when I moved to Cedar Park last year, and I absolutely love it. If you can switch, I'd recommend it, if you can't, let's hope enough complaints can prevent it from happening. I love how companies are seeing people lose jobs and the economy go down the tubes so they are doing whatever they can to squeeze every last dime from the population.

By Joe the Strummer

April 2, 2009 10:43 AM | Link to this

Time Warner tested this in Beaumont? Beaumont? So they wanted their "test" to be positive because they'd already decided on this move.

It's about time we start looking at monopolies in our lives and start asking where the supposed competitive benefits of privatization kick in. Cable TV; gasoline prices that fluctuate from $2 to $4 to $2 a gallon with no difference in supply, distribution, or production capacity; now Internet access.

How ironic that ATT is starting to look good as an alternative to a monopoly.

By Nando

April 2, 2009 9:24 AM | Link to this

I'm not re-stating the obvious arguments against this. I'm just saying "bye" to T, "hi" to Uverse.

By MichaelM

April 2, 2009 8:42 AM | Link to this

Download and use NetMeter v1.1.3 to find out what you're really using....

None of us likes this and all of us need to know how much we are using. I suggest you download the free NetMeter v1.1.3 and start learning how much you are really using. Don't wait for TWC's gas gauge, which won't be as detailed. NetMeter can give you daily, weekly, and monthly totals and warn you when you near a cap that you choose.

Then when TWC starts this in the fall, we can all gripe at them with statistics in hand that may make them reconsider their paltry 40Gb cap.

By R

April 2, 2009 8:36 AM | Link to this

This nonsense will mark the end of unsecured wireless networks as people steal their neighbors' Internet connection in order to avoid paying surcharges. It'll probably spur a lot of bandwith-addicted kiddies into cracking their way into weakly secured networks, too. WEP is fairly easy and WPA can be done given enough time ...

By Fred

April 2, 2009 8:14 AM | Link to this

So if I have both TW Road Runner and TW Phone, will I be paying twice for my phone calls?

By J

April 2, 2009 2:22 AM | Link to this

Switching ISPs tomorrow. BYE TWC!

By JKitchens

April 2, 2009 12:06 AM | Link to this

Hello:

I made this a little while ago. Let's tell TWC no! Please sign.

http://www.petitiononline.com/nocap/petition.html

By Rob W

April 1, 2009 11:54 PM | Link to this

This is just insane. I'm so pissed right now I can't even think. I just checked my usage stats for one week and march and it's over 60 gigs. This will *kill* the internet for me: No videos, no music, no buying games from steam, no online gaming. I won't even bother to have internet at this point.

They are trying to role back the clock and stop people for getting around their content filters, etc and turn the entire enterprise into a profit center.I'm just sickened.

By Jordon

April 1, 2009 11:23 PM | Link to this

I have two words for Time Warner. Listen carefully, guys. The first one is [VERY naughty word]. The second one is YOU.

By Migs

April 1, 2009 10:50 PM | Link to this

Capping people at 40GB/mo? What a complete and utter crock. I'm fortunate that I can get AT&T Uverse, but for the others who are stuck with TWC I feel for you.

What a bunch of toolbags.

By jeremy

April 1, 2009 10:41 PM | Link to this

Time Warner should have it's license to operate revoked over this brazen ham-fisted dictum. Where are the rights of consumers and content providers in all this? WE HAVE NO OTHER REAL CHOICE FOR RELIABLE HIGH SPEED INTERNET IN AUSTIN. The government should take back the cable system from TWC, divvy up the bandwidth and sell it back to several competitors. High speed internet is a fundamental factor in the commercial and creative base here. We can no longer afford to allow a monopoly to strangle our City's life blood. Road Runner Austin is an abusive unchecked monopoly that must be dismantled.

By Klaus

April 1, 2009 10:35 PM | Link to this

Dear Time-Warner People!
You had a great concept- some 12 years ago! But look at what is really clogging you- all those funky flash or Java based das that everyone gets on almost every webpage! Just take a sniffer, and look at every single connection- with timeouts and retries, and nacks and the whole enchilada! That thrash, that you yourself helped to foster consumes your bandwitdh! Not you customers! If you want to correct the problem, just don't bend over for every conservative Con, but use technology to avooid the thrash, and give your customers what you promised! If Ad A or B does not get to your customers -because THEY consume too much- make Them pay- instead of the people that kept you afloat all these years!

By Teddy

April 1, 2009 10:09 PM | Link to this

Monopoly, monopoly, monopoly

requires

regulation, regulation, regulation!!!

By RTT1S

April 1, 2009 10:08 PM | Link to this

The only real alternative is a T1, which allows for truly UNLIMITED bandwidth usage. Although it's pricing model is in line for businesses/companies, it's probably out of the price range for an average residential user. For example see:
http://www.realtimet1search.com

By Gouki

April 1, 2009 9:56 PM | Link to this

TWC; less $49/mo.

By Adam

April 1, 2009 9:52 PM | Link to this

I agree, too much stress to watch some "gas meter" from TW. Time to look for alternatives and pressure Congress to force competition with cable---in other words, I shouldn't be stuck with TW because of the apartment complex I live in... let Grande and other's compete! As for me, I'll dump not only RoadRunner {and use Verizon card} but they can kiss my cable tv goodbye too!! Tired of the constantly excessive high prices as channels dwindle away! Hello satellite tv!!!

By Drake

April 1, 2009 9:50 PM | Link to this

I will find an alternative. I am not a heavy bandwidth user and have been an RR customer since its beginning.

But this is so customer-hostile and tech-hostile that I can't support it with my dollars.

By heather

April 1, 2009 9:38 PM | Link to this

this is horrible! the lack of competition is so unfair to consumers.

By AT&T dude

April 1, 2009 9:37 PM | Link to this

What do people expect from a company that has horrendous turn over from company employees so bad that they must resort to contracting out the majority of their installation work. They are all about the almighty dollar. I'm glad I dumped them long ago in favor of Dish for television and AT&T for internet and phone. I could never stand how all their marketing focuses on how bad the "phone" company is. They don't believe their products have enough merit to sell on their own. Plus if you are an existing TWC customer, AT&T usually has sweet deals to come back as a customer.

By Haji

April 1, 2009 9:34 PM | Link to this

Isn't this a little bit of too little too late for TWC? The era of wired internet is fast coming to a close, smart phones, netbooks, and LTE are the future. Within 5 years, we'll all have 150 mbps internet connections on cell phones. We wont need Time Warner and their crappy little broadband network.

You cant fight the future Alex.... Get on board, or you'll get left behind. Your TV model is dying. Embrace your future as a "dumb pipe". That's your only hope. And while your at it, DOCSIS 3.0. Get out of the stone ages with your crappy "up to 22 mbps" (which btw, i never get because you are too cheap to invest in your network).

Oh, and broadband should be treated as a utility - just like the electric grid, the water system, and the highways.

By Jeff

April 1, 2009 9:34 PM | Link to this

Trying this in a technology savvy town and in the midst of a depression takes big balls but is tremendously stupid. I honestly can't wait to see this blow up in Time Warner's face.

If I was one of the Time Warner employees quoted in the article, I would brush up my resume because you guys are going to be looking for a job after this experiment fails in spectacular fashion.

By Steve

April 1, 2009 9:28 PM | Link to this

Did they really need to give people another reason to cancel their terrible service?

By Doug

April 1, 2009 9:25 PM | Link to this

I liked Austin when I lived there, but have realized how artificially arrogant many Austinites are now that I am gone. Guess what - I live in a Texas town of 115,000 that is more progressive than Austin in many ways. I can't believe how many negative stereotypes about Beaumont and other smaller cities are in the posts below. Grow up. Be proud of your town w/o knocking others.

By Jeff

April 1, 2009 9:13 PM | Link to this

Trying this in a technology savvy town and in the midst of a depression takes big balls but is tremendously stupid. I honestly can't wait to see this blow up in Time Warner's face.

If I was one of the Time Warner employees quoted in the article, I would brush up my resume because you guys are going to be looking for a job after this experiment fails in spectacular fashion.

By put an end to their monoply

April 1, 2009 9:11 PM | Link to this

I think "turbo" roadrunner is just a scam, it's slightly faster than standard but doesn't come anywhere near what they advertise.

By JKitchens

April 1, 2009 9:07 PM | Link to this

Ok... Someone please start one of those online petitions. There are tons of us that will gladly sign it. And Mr. Gallaga, will you please publish the link in your story?

You can create the petition here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html

I would do it but I just don't have the time.

Thanks

Joe from Hutto

By T

April 1, 2009 8:54 PM | Link to this

Ignore the spin by the TWC executives.

Even if you don't use 40GB/mo now, you WILL in the near future. The future of the internet is bandwidth intensive. TWC is laying the groundwork now to push everyone into high cost tiers. (sooner than later you'll discover)

Internet metering is not aimed at just the "few" they claim. The metering is aimed at you.

Unfortunately I'm not sure any but regulation as a utility can prevent it. At worst you have a monopoly, at best you have a cartel in Austin.

(Thank god I can get Grande at my home, but I'm not sure they'll play the white knight for long.)

By MichaelM

April 1, 2009 8:49 PM | Link to this

None of us likes this and all of us need to know how much we are using. I suggest you download the free NetMeter v1.1.3 from

http://www.metal-machine.de/readerror/

and start learning how much you are really using. Don't wait for TWC's gas gauge, which won't be as detailed. NetMeter can give you daily, weekly, and monthly totals and warn you when you near a cap that you choose.

Then when TWC starts this in the fall, we can all gripe at them with statistics in hand that may make them reconsider their paltry 40Gb cap.

By Daniel

April 1, 2009 8:38 PM | Link to this

This is horrible. I pay for Turbo for a reason, so I can download movies and music from iTunes, watch HD video on Youtube and Hulu, download games from Steam, and Skype with friends. I don't do illegal downloading but I still use lots of bandwidth.

There's no point to having Internet if you have to worry about how much bandwith you use. I remember being in the dorms at UT where there's incredibly fast internet but you're limited to 10gb/week, which means you can only get one or two videos a week and you have to quit videoconferences early so you don't run out before Friday when you need to do your homework. It makes it so you're worried every time you want to do something interesting on the internet, which will kill new and interesting things like streaming video and videoconferencing.

U-verse is too slow and too expensive for the fast tiers. I don't want TV service, I use iTunes for that - which requires unlimited internet.

Time Warner should just bother the top .01% that are using hundreds of GB with illegal downloads, and let all legal services go unhindered.

It's very clear what they are doing - trying to destroy online video like Hulu so that they can sell more cable subscriptions. They should instead offer a commercial free on-demand service like a subscribable Hulu! I'd pay for that.

By john

April 1, 2009 8:36 PM | Link to this

Wow... I don't any other business (other than a quasi monopoly!) that can afford to PISS OFF 14% of their customers! These bandwidth caps should only affect the top 1-2% of (ab)users- not 14%!! Comcast has their limit at 250GB.

Austin is a very political and socially driven place. Time Warner is going to be bad mouthed at every opportunity by me and lots of other people I know for years to come. They might be able to get away with this with little consequence in some hick town like Beaumont ... but not in Austin.

By moneywrangler

April 1, 2009 8:36 PM | Link to this

I just posted a diary over at DailyKos-my first one. Any comments or recos would help get the word out. We can stop this with a large amount of interest.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/1/715574/-Time-Warner-Strikes-Back

By SteveLC

April 1, 2009 8:12 PM | Link to this

This is NOT free enterprise. These companies bribed the legislatures (both Fed and State) to refuse to allow open service-access for all vendors. That's why Grande's available in some but not all, why AT&T Broadband was in Dallas but only TW in Austin for so long. This is NOT free enterprise. We do NOT have every possible competitive choice - that's not free enterprise.

AT&T's service can be TERRIBLE - when the service goes down, they're far worse than TW. But TW's been stripping TV channels off of their lower 125 for years now. 20, 23, 44, 51, and we all remember the recent local station broo-ha-ha...

TW's giving us less and less eervice for more and more money. There ARE choices - but not many. I wish we DID have free enterprise.

I wish they'd let us pay for ONLY the TV channels we wanted!

-SteveLC

By Betty

April 1, 2009 7:47 PM | Link to this

This seems to me to be a step backwards to the days of the mid 1990s when other ISPs like AOL were charging piecemeal for usage.

I am outraged, to say the least. Roadrunner is definitely NOT the best ISP I've had. Unfortunately, we live in Cedar Park/Williamson Co., so our choices may be limited.

Somehow that reeks of monopoly??? I don't know, just know that I'll definitely be researching other options....which I think I'll do right now!

By LoneStarMac

April 1, 2009 7:46 PM | Link to this

And 5gb ??? Friggin OS updates are 1/2 a gig...
And God knows how big ALL those Winders security updates are...
TW is outta touch...

By phil

April 1, 2009 7:43 PM | Link to this

this affects small & home business in very bad way. TWC is lying to their customers.

By LoneStarMac

April 1, 2009 7:42 PM | Link to this

Maybe we should band together and form a WIFI co-op ???
The internet will be free one day, this is just TW way of squeezing us until they are no longer able to... Just like GM, Enron, the government etc. etc.
I'm tired of it...

By Keith

April 1, 2009 7:41 PM | Link to this

Dudley's comments are a pack of lies. No differences from city to city in Internet usage? Horse manure. He wants us to believe that Austin is NOT more Internet-connected than Wahoo Nebraska? That's the reason they used Beaumont for God's sake for their test bed. Beaumont is about as computer-illiterate as a city can get. They ran a fake trial so they could come up with a bunch of totally bogus numbers as an excuse. If this is such a good plan, why are they doing it ONLY in cities that don't have a viable FIOS provider or that don't have a powerful alternate cable provider? What's really happening here is a power play to try to position Time-Warner to control Net distribution of movies. This is a screw job pure and simple.

By R

April 1, 2009 7:40 PM | Link to this

The pertinent portion of an e-mail I just sent to Time Warner:

Forty gigabytes can be downloaded in 6 hours at TW's Turbo speed, so you're planning to charge more than $60 for 6 hours of use? Give me a break, I'm never paying $10/hour for Internet access.

By Not fooled

April 1, 2009 7:34 PM | Link to this

Wow, Alex Dudley is a genius. I didn't realize that internet usage was the same for areas like San Francisco and Beaumont.

By R

April 1, 2009 7:28 PM | Link to this

I just canceled the phone and TV portion of my TW account in San Antonio after getting tired of paying $175/month for services I rarely used. I've been very happy with my TW Internet service, but I'm bailing out if they try to saddle me with a 40GB cap. Guess I need to look into the alternatives.

By Mk

April 1, 2009 7:10 PM | Link to this

5 GB/mo for what I'm already paying? That's unreasonable. I don't use Hulu or Netflix or download movies or music, but I'll still have to upgrade and pay more since I use a lot more than 5 GB/mo just doing research and actual things related to my profession. Screw you TWC... guess I'll have to find a different ISP.

By omni

April 1, 2009 7:08 PM | Link to this

Too bad I can't get Grande in my neighborhood. Looks like I'll be switching to UVerse.

By AdiosTW

April 1, 2009 7:07 PM | Link to this

�Internet usage is a lot like television viewing. It doesn�t vary from geographic area to geographic area.�

Complete and total LIE and this [very naughty word] knows it. I have aunts, uncles and cousins in Beaumont and they use the internet about once a week to use email, even my teenage cousins.

By Allie

April 1, 2009 7:00 PM | Link to this

I wish we had other choices... we love our HD TiVos and there is no one else we can use (NW Austin/ Wm. Co.) without replacing those for cable TV. Our cable, phone, & internet are all bundled because they cost too much separately.

I think it would be smart if TWC at least offered unlimited bandwidth to the customers who bundle all three services...

By S. Harris

April 1, 2009 6:57 PM | Link to this

Time Warner wouldn't be doing this in Austin (or San Antonio) if we had FIOS available.

Time Warner Cable picked these areas because most of us, if not all, don't have any access to FIOS or similar alternatives.

I'm not happy switching to U-Verse, but I'm thankful I have an alternative. The person I spoke with this afternoon said they've been receiving a lot of calls from existing TWC customers in Austin, so obviously this isn't happening in a vacuum.

By Allie

April 1, 2009 6:55 PM | Link to this

I love @Bill's point about the cable TV... are they going to start charging the people who watch more TV more too? As so many have pointed out, they clearly want to choke off Netflix, Hulu, Amazon on Demand, etc. But why??? It is because of Netflix that I realized just how awesome the shows on HBO and Showtime were!

By Simian Pundit

April 1, 2009 6:48 PM | Link to this

Next stop: A meter on the TV. You heard it here first.

By Brandon

April 1, 2009 6:48 PM | Link to this

"The free market: I just cancelled internet service with Time Warner and switched to Grande as of today."

Not all of us are so lucky. My choices are put up with TW or AT&T. I switched from AT&T DSL a few years ago and it was utter garbage. Unfortunately I work from home and a 40 gb cap is a freaking joke. I would kill for Grande service here at this point (in Lakeway).

By moneywrangler

April 1, 2009 6:46 PM | Link to this

hey Alex Dudley, I call [very naughty word]! Stop treating us like idiots. If 84 percent of your business is going well, then you wouldn't change the way you do business. Many of us have dropped cable in order to curb our expenses a bit in these trying times and are streaming video from netflix, Amazon, Hulu etc. TWC just couldn't stand it that people are getting something for free so you did the only thing you can think of to try to get our money back. [Very naughty invitation.]

By paper_poster

April 1, 2009 6:34 PM | Link to this

I absolutely love my Time Warner service because I had AT&suck Uverse in Houston and after a year of fighting with them to let me send their own equipment back to them, they finally sent the box. Then they threatened me with collection and ruination of my credit for an account which was current, but they would not acknowledge it. I nearly got the AG involved. BUT: if Time Warner does this, I will go back to Uverse. I won't tolerate the metering of my bandwidth like I do my cell minutes.

By curt

April 1, 2009 6:29 PM | Link to this

The unlimited internet was the hook TWC used to reel us in.... just like a used car salesman (sorry if I offend any used car salesmen).... Now that the hook is in, they move to tiered pricing to squeeze even more out of us. I hear the stats about who uses the most, but you know, thats why they came to TWC... I want to pay the same each month regardless of what I use. time to look for a new provider.

By twc user

April 1, 2009 6:26 PM | Link to this

Welcome to the free enterprise system. If someone out there thinks they can provide unlimited high bandwidth internet service (and cable TV and phone service) for a lower price, go do it! And the answer is not to regulate it. To do so would only cap innovation and technical progress. Check the balance sheet of TWC, Comcast and Charter (now in chapter 11). These companies are not making gobs of money.

By SmokeMonkey

April 1, 2009 6:20 PM | Link to this

This guy answers his emails:

alex.dudley@twcable.com
Alex Dudley, vice president of public relations for Time Warner Cable : alex.dudley@twcable.com

By Stan

April 1, 2009 6:02 PM | Link to this

You can voice your displeasure to upper management at jeff.simmermon@twcable.com
(Director of Digital Communications)

By vulcn

April 1, 2009 5:59 PM | Link to this

I prolly will switch to AT&T as soon it's available in my area. In a waiting mode now because Austin TWC won't let AT&T tap into their fiber optic cable.

By Kris

April 1, 2009 5:51 PM | Link to this

84% of users don't need to worry? So, let me make sure I have this right. The cable infrastructure in Austin is so archaic that it can't handle 16% of its subscribers actually making full use of the bandwidth they're paying for each month? You mean you've oversold your bandwidth by that much? Cause that sounds like you've lied in your advertising about how awesome your high speed internet is. Or could it be that the caps have nothing at all to do with capacity, and instead are all about you shutting down competition from Hulu, Amazon, and iTunes, and forcing me to use your horrible Scientific Atlanta stb's?

By vulcn

April 1, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this

I prolly will drop TWC if this comes to light. I'm still waiting to get AT&T service in my area (Cheteau at Onion Creek) where I live but, Austin TWC won't let AT&T splice into their line.

By Andrew

April 1, 2009 5:42 PM | Link to this

In the early 80's the Federal government broke up "Ma Bell" into regional companies because Ma Bell acted like a monopoly. Now 25 years later we have let the phone and Internet companies consolidate into a few giants. No market competition = the customer getting $crewed.

So much for capitalism in America.

By S. Harris

April 1, 2009 5:34 PM | Link to this

Given the timing of this, I believe that this is Time Warner's response to YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, iTunes Store, etc. If Time Warner was threatened by the top users, they could have dealt with them years ago, instead of capping everybody just as we are starting to get into online video viewing, video chatting, etc.

It's very disturbing that Austin touts itself as such a high-tech city, and yet the largest broadband provider in the area acts in this manner. Time Warner definitely acts like a monopoly.

40GB for the fastest users? No thanks, I'll be moving to U-Verse.

Time Warner can have my business back when they decide to have a more reasonable cap for the price.

By why wait? send a message.

April 1, 2009 5:33 PM | Link to this

The free market: I just cancelled internet service with Time Warner and switched to Grande as of today.

By Jeff

April 1, 2009 5:32 PM | Link to this

The low monthly bandwidth are insulting considering the way the internet is changing.

Does anyone else think they are trying to discourage Hulu/Netlix use so they can retain more digital cable customers?

By Greg

April 1, 2009 5:23 PM | Link to this

I'm sooo glad I have AT&T's U-verse service. It's cheaper and a much better service overall. I've had it for 4 months and not one complaint.

By HornsOverIthaca

April 1, 2009 5:07 PM | Link to this

Actually Chris is right. This is Time Warner's way of making instant content through sources like Hulu and Netflix less appealing. Unfortunately AT&T is not a better option.

By TedTurner

April 1, 2009 5:05 PM | Link to this

I am totally selling all my Time Warner stock tout de suite.

By Terry

April 1, 2009 5:03 PM | Link to this

Goodbye Time Warner. There is no other ISP option in my neighborhood, which I'm sure is what you're counting on.

I'm only renting, so I'll move somewhere serviced by a more realistic ISP. I hope this blows up horribly in your face.

By LoneStarMac

April 1, 2009 5:03 PM | Link to this

First they take away the radar channel, then they take away Usenet, now tiered pricing? There is no doubt TW is out to screw us. The question is, how much of their $#&$# are we going to take ?

By gary21cp

April 1, 2009 5:01 PM | Link to this

TWC does not understand the Austin market -- we're not Beaumont. Not only are Austin users much more likely to need major bandwidth, they're also much more likely to find alternatives to cable. And this could spark a huge consumer demand for "naked" Internet alternatives -- Internet connectivity without video or telephone -- which is exactly what TWC doesn't want.

With free broadcast HD channels over-the-air, DSL at 6 Mbps for $35/month, iTunes, Hulu and Netflix, in the middle of an economic crunch when people are trying to save money, TWC is just pointing a gun at its own head. Austin is chock-full of techies who can figure out the numbers.

By gordo107

April 1, 2009 4:57 PM | Link to this

goodbye tw... hello at&t. i will send smoke signals before i get screwed by tw.

By Stu

April 1, 2009 4:54 PM | Link to this

I wonder how this will effect those of us that have long term contracts?

By Craven

April 1, 2009 4:53 PM | Link to this

I also am paying through the nose for HDTV, Road Runner, and Phone. I believe we pay around $180 a month as well. I don't want to monitor a gauge for my bandwidth usage. I create and maintain multiple webpages from home, and need broadband. I may be forced to check into Grande or Dish. NFL Network, broadband, and less money going out? I am all for it. I will give TWC a chance, but if my gauge max's out half-way through the month, I'll have to go elsewhere.

By Billy

April 1, 2009 4:50 PM | Link to this

Omar: You have stirred up a hornet's nest of unhappy Time Warner customers. Thank you for getting this information out to the public. Goodness knows Time Warner would not have been in any hurry to tell anyone, until it snuck it into one of its obfuscatory monthly bills.

By Bill

April 1, 2009 4:49 PM | Link to this

Is TWC going to meter our TV usage too? So for those of us that only watch it a few hours a week, no matter the number of channels we get, we'll get a discount?

By Matt

April 1, 2009 4:41 PM | Link to this

This is a horrible idea. Email everyone you know at TWC that Austin will not stand for this. It is anti competitive for those of us that can not get UVers or Grande.

Memo to Grande and AT&T:

The Austin market is yours for the taking.

By kelso

April 1, 2009 4:40 PM | Link to this

Time Warner is going to be kicking themselves over this later. This kind of plan goes against the tide of technology, in a few years bandwidth caps like these will seem as archaic as AOL pay-per-minute pricing.

By Wylie Coyote

April 1, 2009 4:37 PM | Link to this

Hmmm, I wonder when FIOS is going to make it to Austin? DSL is still unlimited no? Maybe Obama can 'fix' this too?

By clussman

April 1, 2009 4:31 PM | Link to this

Chip, thanks for your input on the subject and I'm glad to see at least one person bringing up Net Neutrality. I think this does touch pretty close to the subject. For those not in the know, ISPs have, for a couple of years now, wanted to charge at both ends of the pipe. Charging both users and content providers for the same bandwidth.

Providers that don't pay up can have their bandwidth limited or throttled or they can have their content or service blocked altogether. Comcast already did this over a year ago AND took the extra step of paying people to fill seats at a public FCC hearing in order to block interested parties from complaining about it or lobbying for Net Neutrality laws. You can read about it hear: http://bit.ly/comcastblocking

The ISPs are more-or-less acting en masse on this, which means legislation is needed. So call your federal congressman and demand net neutrality laws. Call your state congressman and demand that no state franchise be granted for any ISP that wants to gouge its customers in this manner.

The other thing you can do is drop TWC the minute they implement this plan. You can believe the other ISPs will be watching our market closely during that time period. Don't switch now as that will be harder for ISPs to correlate to the bandwidth caps. If TWC lost a significant portion of its customer base over this, it might make them--and other ISPs--think twice about implementing caps.

By crystal a

April 1, 2009 4:23 PM | Link to this

This is especially unfair to those of us that have no alternative to TWC. My boyfriend used to have Grande and loved it. We can't make the switch because our apartment only gets service from TWC. This is bulmalarky.

By Kenny

April 1, 2009 4:22 PM | Link to this

TWC, give this 3.5 year subscriber a reason to leave and I'm gone! You aren't the only game in town. With football season coming up, the NFL network on Uverse is looking more appealing! I too don't want to monitor a download gauge so I don't pay more than the 180.00 Dollars I already pay a month!!! How much is enough?!?

By bornaustin

April 1, 2009 4:20 PM | Link to this

oh dear.... I still have dial up. Guess I will be missing out on all the bru-ha this time. In all seriousness, I have been getting flyers for Grande in the mail (why would I get them if they did not service the area?) and I go to the web site and load my info and it says I am in their service area. When I go to enter information to obtain pricing for the services I would need it tells me I am not in the service area. Saving me time on phone calls does anyone know if they service Airport and Lamar area?

By natty

April 1, 2009 4:20 PM | Link to this

I will drop all three services. Contract or not. seriously. Why pay for a bunch of lies and mind control anyhow?

By steve golab

April 1, 2009 4:19 PM | Link to this

Is this an april fools joke?

By Foodporncess

April 1, 2009 4:08 PM | Link to this

I can assure TWC that I will no longer be needing their services as soon as something else is offered in my area.

By Mike

April 1, 2009 4:03 PM | Link to this

Time Warner's unstated goal is driving users like you and me away from HD downloads, instant streaming, Hulu, or ANY other method to consume video that they don't supply. I cancelled my Time Warner Cable about a year ago after a protracted service outage, switching to free OTA HD, Netflix, and occasional video downloads from places like Amazon, Apple, and the XBox 360 store. I get internet from AT&T. Time Warner gets not a penny from me, and their ads are seen by one less subscriber.

I am concerned about AT&T caps, too, though 150GB seems far more reasonable to me.

By Thomas

April 1, 2009 4:02 PM | Link to this

we have been with TWC for about 15 years and in the past months my signal have been dropped like crary. I called tech support and came out to my resident and can not find the root caused. So, either way I am thinking to drop TWC and with this coming change i guaranteed to have my entired family and friend will say "GOOD BYE" to TWC. TWC need to improve the performance with reasonable cost to their customers and don't be so greedy.

By Hutch

April 1, 2009 3:59 PM | Link to this

I will be terminating internet services with Road Runner. Even if another provider has caps at least it would be up front in the agreement, not after years of service. If enough people begin to leave I imagine this might go away. It's a consumer driven market!

By Stephen

April 1, 2009 3:54 PM | Link to this

I have been paying for phone, internet, and cable for many years. Add to that multiple DVR's, HD Tiers, and essentially every channel they offer, I paying well over $200/month. If they do this, I will be gone. Not sure where...even if I have to pay higher tiers at ATT it might be worth it considering I can get Uverse and everything is cheaper. Quit asking me to pay for your horrible merger with an even worse business model (AOL).

By EricR

April 1, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

I have Grande and love it. Unfortunatley, now they'll be innundated with service and that may change things there.

By Priced Locked

April 1, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

Does this constitute a change in terms so I can get out of my "Price Lock Guarantee?"

By Josh

April 1, 2009 3:52 PM | Link to this

This is absolutely the wave of the future. Unfortunately this is the by product of the cable modem era. Cable cos also provide tv service and they are scard to death of online video. Don't by this crap about making it fair for light users - this is all about discouraging us from dropping their crappy tv services in favor of a customized internet video future. Its also about TWC being too cheap/lazy to invst in DOCSIS 3.0. They dont want to pay for it, so they make us pay.

This is what happens when local governments award exclusive cable franchises to single companies. This would not be happening if TWC had to compete with Comcast, Fios, Uverse, Cox Cable, Charter, etc. They'd be incented to provide us better service at a less money to beat their competitor. Way to go TWC, a-holes.

By nicodemus

April 1, 2009 3:51 PM | Link to this

Well the time that will kick in will be the time i will drop them. the economy is bad and iam not going to allow anyone empty my pocket even more.

By Janis Gonser

April 1, 2009 3:50 PM | Link to this

This might be the springboard for Grande. I live in North Austin and unfortunately they do not provide coverage in that area. I also do have a locked-in-rate w/twc for another year, so I wonder how this is going to effect me, if even at all.

Should I have read the fine print and used my personal taro card reader for consulting. Wouldn't matter anyhow.

By tc

April 1, 2009 3:50 PM | Link to this

More price gauging from TWC ! Instead of offering incentives to existing customers to keep us, they continue to raise prices and offer poor customer service. Bad enough the high speed service is slow during peak times of the day and evening. Fortunately there are choices, so goodbye TWC.
Don't and wouldn't touch them for cable tv.
Say what you want about AT&T's monopoly, but they work with their customers, provide good service, and actually want to keep your business !

By spam

April 1, 2009 3:50 PM | Link to this

don't you people see what's going on? This is time warner's way of making downloading movies via the internet less appealing. How does this benefit them? They are hoping you will then subscribe to their video on demand...thus raising their revenue.

By Chip

April 1, 2009 3:48 PM | Link to this

kid_dynamite - The City of Austin has no regulatory authority for broadband services. Moreover, renegotiating the franchise is a non-starter. It's expected TWC will move to a state-issued franchise in 2011. I think they'd be delighted to have an opportunity to move earlier.

Larry - the City is actually prohibited by law from giving any provider a monopoly. Now, economics say that once you have an incumbent (such as Time-Warner) it's difficult for an "overbuilder" (such as Grande) to come in and offer service. I think that, not regulation, is the strongest force limiting our choices.

Those issues aside, I think the City has a clear, compelling interest in widespread broadband availability for our community. So, I think there are grounds to look into the proposed pricing/service change. We can inform the community, and (if warranted) we can send official requests and recommendations to Washington (where this policy is made).

To broaden the debate a little, I want to point out that tiering isn't necessarily bad. It's very bad if the caps and prices are set such that competitive video services (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, etc.) or other innovative applications are hampered.

But it's also possible for tiered providers to be net.neutral (because they don't have to be afraid of BitTorrent-like applications draining the bandwidth), they can be transparent (no mysterious caps or disciplinary actions), and they can increase broadband availability to low income households.

I don't know that Time Warner is planning to do any of these things, but if we're going to discuss tiering we should be talking about these aspects too.

Chip Rosenthal
Chair, City of Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission

Disclaimer: speaking for myself!!!!

By Pal

April 1, 2009 3:46 PM | Link to this

I declare shenanigans.

I will be another rat jumping ship. TWC knows better than this, but nevermind for the dollar is all that matters. It just sucks that so many people are going to leave that people will lose their jobs over the matter...it isn't their fault their managment doesnt understand that this is a city filled with educated, tech savvy people that know they are getting ripped off.

Best of luck and if there are any protests, I'll bring a 12 pack to share.

By Miguel

April 1, 2009 3:43 PM | Link to this

Changes in your TOS allows you to break your Time Warner contract. Grande has ESPN360.com and NFL Network. Thanks, TW - I've been looking for a reason to switch.

By Austinite

April 1, 2009 3:42 PM | Link to this

Just an FYI - I have several friends and family members that recently switched to AT&T and they are very disappointed. We wanted to switch but after their experiences we stayed with TWC. Does anybody have a review for Grande? I have never heard of this one??

By Chris

April 1, 2009 3:42 PM | Link to this

The person that posted that AT&T is going to do the same, is simply wrong. I work for AT&T in the Lightspeed Dept and we have no plans to do the same. I recently went to 18MB on my Uverse and love it. I think TW is making a huge mistake. My family would burn through their limits within a few days.

By keith

April 1, 2009 3:41 PM | Link to this

Good thing I left them for AT&T. TWC sucks beyond all belief...not to mention their false advertising claims of 'free hd'...they forget to mention if you want what THEY deem as 'premium hd' you have to pay $7-8 for it. Not to mention their customer service agents that do nothing but lie to you and then turn and call you a liar or accuse you of 'messing with the equipment' when you lose service. Most everyone I know is ditching TWC for AT&T

By Tony in Liberty Hill

April 1, 2009 3:35 PM | Link to this

Guess they're not doing "rollover GB"?

If you live in an area where you have a (non-satellite) high-speed alternative to TWC, consider yourself lucky. Some of us are stuck.

By Don

April 1, 2009 3:34 PM | Link to this

Does anyone still like the "convenience of one monthly bill"?

Watching the big cable and phone companies "negotiate" these caps with each other to kill new media and gouge existing customers reminds me of watching airlines try to move their prices up and down in lockstep. It's sort of fun watching public companies trying to agree to fix prices without violating the antitrust laws.

I had Roadrunner through TWC in 1999. It cost $40 or so per month and wasn't too much slower than the actual speeds today.

What have 10 years worth of "innovation" gotten us? Compare that to 10 years advancement in any other area of technology.

But they don't have to care. They're the phone/cable/movie/internet company.

By Molita

April 1, 2009 3:33 PM | Link to this

Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon, ComCast - they all suck! Once again it's all about greed - "how much can we get away with & how much will they pay before they switch over?"

By Poopface

April 1, 2009 3:33 PM | Link to this

Yeah.....you can go ahead and count my household, my buisness, and anyone else that I know in the list of people hopping off the TWC ship.

The messed up part is that they have programs now that make people sign year long "contracts" to "lock the price in".....I hope people understand that by limiting the bandwidth, they are changing the terms of the contract and thus making it null and void. I hope Grande makes a killing off of this.

Also....has anyone taken into account all of the unlocked wifi in austin? Couldn't those people be taken to the cleaners in this?

A very poor choice for TWC that will result in thousands of lost customers, bad PR, and a giant sign on their forehead that says "I don't really understand progress so let us put limits on it"

Hopefully if we raise a big enough collective stink, they will back down.

By John Gillnitz

April 1, 2009 3:31 PM | Link to this

The day Time Warner starts putting limits on Road Runner usage is the day I drop them. I know several people who kicked them to the curb and signed up with AT&T and have been very happy with it.

By kid_dynamite

April 1, 2009 3:20 PM | Link to this

Can the statesman present this issue to the major candidates for Mayor and city council-- specifically, would this be grounds for an early review of TWC's Austin franchise, or an issue to be considered when the franchise expires in 2011? There are parts of town where TWC has a monopoly or is part of a duopoly for high speed internet

By ATXtechie

April 1, 2009 3:20 PM | Link to this

Before everyone goes on *boohoo-ing* Time Warner Cable, just bear in mind that AT&T has already tested AND announced that they will also be doing the same thing (its an article in PCWorld). They haven't released dates or details yet. They also have already implemented bandwidth limits in the past and so has Comcast in other parts of the country. So don't go running to AT&T, because they'll play off of this and get all the new subscribers they can before they do the exact same thing.
Unfortunately this is the way that all ISPs are headed so get used to it and deal with it.

By Jimmy

April 1, 2009 3:20 PM | Link to this

I have had Grande service for about 2 years now (switched from TWC). I have had maybe 2 or 3 periods of downtime due to scheduled maintenance whereas the TWC equipment was having to be rebooted almost daily and the internet speed was 50% at best. With Grande I continually get 10mbps+ on my 12.0 plan. Go Grande!

By Shane

April 1, 2009 3:15 PM | Link to this

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10082615-93.html
Hate to burst everyones bubble. ATT is doing the same thing. Read the article above.

By Frustrated

April 1, 2009 3:15 PM | Link to this

Just another thing for me to hate about Time Warner. The bad news for us is that our street can't get dsl or Uverse still, so we are stuck with them while people just a few houses away can get it. I hate at&t for forcing us to stay with Time Warner instead of extending their service.

By smitty

April 1, 2009 3:14 PM | Link to this

att is doing the same thing, so swithch if you will !!!!!

By AT

April 1, 2009 3:13 PM | Link to this

What a farce! I too, like everyone else will drop my service when this happens. I'm already paying almost $200 a month for phone, cable and internet service which I feel is extraordinarily high.

Where is our socialist government when we need them? Quick, somebody send this article to the White House, maybe we'll get some bailout money to help pay for these outrageous fees!

By shanec

April 1, 2009 3:12 PM | Link to this

So they tested this where? Beaumont? Come on! I'll be dropping these guys for something else if this is implemented. I work online so this hits my livelihood not only my entertainment options.

By Victoria

April 1, 2009 3:12 PM | Link to this

I'll leave TWC (currently use them for internet service only), but it sounds like ATT is also thinking along similar lines. Is this the wave of the future?

By moneywrangler

April 1, 2009 3:11 PM | Link to this

I urge everyone to contact your state representative, senator, attorney general etc. I even sent letters to Steve Jobs, netflix, amazon and tivo....

By john

April 1, 2009 3:08 PM | Link to this

Well this would be the last straw for me. TW service has been HORRID for me. Had them out to the house 3 times to 'fix a bad cable'. Finally had to exchange my set-top...myself to actually fix the problem.

I'm probably moving over the summer so I'll make sure the new place is in a Grande or U-Verse served area.

By Matt_M

April 1, 2009 3:06 PM | Link to this

I'm not staying either. I'd rather go without than be gouged like this.

Fortunately, I'm sure there are other businesses happy to have my dollars, so I don't have to.

By Miguel

April 1, 2009 3:05 PM | Link to this

Adios TWC!

By Christopher

April 1, 2009 3:04 PM | Link to this

Hello DSL!!!! U-verse here I come.

By JT

April 1, 2009 3:02 PM | Link to this

Another reason to go outside and ride a bike!!

By revo

April 1, 2009 3:00 PM | Link to this

Good-bye Time Warner. I've been looking for a good reason to switch my ISP. AT&T, Verizon, or Grande look like they'll do the job for a much better price.

By Timsy

April 1, 2009 2:57 PM | Link to this

I switched to AT&T's "Elite" DSL two weeks ago and I am more pleased with it than I was with TWC's comparable 6.5mbs service. To top it off, it's about $15-20 less with a higher upload rate, to boot.

By Thomas

April 1, 2009 2:55 PM | Link to this

I just dropped my service after reading the article. They were already throttling my internet. I encourage others to drop them as well.

By Joel

April 1, 2009 2:55 PM | Link to this

Looks like I'm going to be getting uverse and dropping time warner. Might as wells switch to sattelite tv as well since the channels I watch don't always come through on time warner

By ShadyAngler

April 1, 2009 2:55 PM | Link to this

Purchase a laptop and get an aircard through your mobile service provider....They have caps, but the benefit is you can take your service anywhere you want!

By Willie

April 1, 2009 2:53 PM | Link to this

What the hell, I've been with TWC too long anyway. Why not try something different. I'm sure that their competitors will be offering some incentive to move.

By Matt

April 1, 2009 2:53 PM | Link to this

TWC will be losing a shipload of customers in Austin. ATT is expanding U-verse throughout Austin, and right now they are conditioning the lines in parts of the Great Hills neighborhood, in preparation for U-verse service.

I'll be dropping TWC in favor of U-verse when it becomes available, which won't be very long now. I've been a TWC customer since RoadRunner first was offered in Austin - goodbye!

By Trey

April 1, 2009 2:52 PM | Link to this

Had Grande when I lived in Austin and loved it. Now I am in Pflugerville and have my choice of Suddenlink or AT&T. I have the Dry-Loop DSL Pro 6MB and I pay $34/month. No crazy phone taxes either because I don't have a phone line. Have been really happy with the service.

By Carl

April 1, 2009 2:49 PM | Link to this

GRANDE COMMUNICATIONS... throw off the yoke of TWC. Buy Local. Better service, better price. twc sucks.

By Greg

April 1, 2009 2:49 PM | Link to this

It will certainly mark the end of my service with TWC. If not for their already existent price gouging... for this action to further jack my bill up. This is a scary trend service providers are taking. It's bad enough I have to stress about my families cellphone usage. Now internet bandwidth too? No thanks.

By Helen

April 1, 2009 2:48 PM | Link to this

No idea if this pricing would work for me because I have no idea how much bandwidth I use! If it is going to cost more than I already pay or if I am going to have to live in fear of overage charges, than I will probably go with U-Verse and Grande.

By TWCH8R

April 1, 2009 2:48 PM | Link to this

I loathe time warner cable, this just adds another reason to why I cannot wait until uverse is offered in my neighborhood.

Reasons Why TWC Stinks
1) Terrible Customer Service
2) Too Expensive
3) Dated Equipment (when the first used cable box they bring you breaks they will replace it with another used unit that doesn't work either)
4) Dated Software Interface - what is this 1976, my toaster oven is more up to date than this crap.
5) INCONSISTENT SERVICE - always blurring, freezing, boxes needs resetting, can never be fixed no matter how many times the service techs show up
6) Limited Bandwidth
7) Now Tiered Internet Pricing

Time Warner Credo: "Doing business in markets that allow us to operate as a monopoly permitting us to spend a minimal amount on R&D, equipment, employees, and network reliability while charging an arm and a leg for mediocre service."

By MP

April 1, 2009 2:46 PM | Link to this

I recently got u-verse for everything and I love it.

By Damanpordilliko

April 1, 2009 2:45 PM | Link to this

Hey Grande communications still has unlimited and their customer service is amazing

By Mk

April 1, 2009 2:44 PM | Link to this

@john: Dish Network is nothing more than DSL, and DSL doesn't equate to cable modem speeds vs. pricing. That is, you get less with DSL than with cable for the same price.

People need to speak up about this. Call TWC and ask... flood their phones and raise a stink.

By t04st

April 1, 2009 2:39 PM | Link to this

Once the bandwidth limit is imposed is the day I cancel service.

By ShadowTiger

April 1, 2009 2:38 PM | Link to this

I *might* be okay with this. I'm going to have to take a wait-and-see approach.

For one thing, it'd be nice for TWC, once they've decided they're going to do it for sure, to start telling us monthly how much bandwidth we've used (for at least a few months before we have to decide to stay with them, and at what tier). I bet most folks will be surprised (either way).

They don't mention...at what speeds? Are they going to give everyone the top tier speed (which is now like 22mpbs) and just limit bandwidth? Or will the higher tiers be faster and the lower tiers be slower? That might put me off more, if I don't use it as much that means I have to take a slower connection.

I like the idea to give a flat rate and rebate for bandwidth NOT used...much more customer (and budget) friendly. Of course, not that TWC is customer (or budget) friendly.

By chad

April 1, 2009 2:37 PM | Link to this

How is ATT U-Verse a viable recourse? They are colluding with TWC in select markets and plan to roll out usage based pricing in the fall, lol.

By Si Dunn

April 1, 2009 2:36 PM | Link to this

I just signed up for Time Warner service this morning, before hearing about this. Arrrggggghhhh! Now I'll need to start looking for other possibilities. I'm moving to Austin from a city where I've had Verizon's FIOS. It works great, but their customer service is somewhere between "stupid" and "mega-stupid." I had lots of fights with Verizon and finally had to get help from the Public Utilities Commission to straighten out a couple of problems.

By Paul Silver

April 1, 2009 2:35 PM | Link to this

How disappointing. Just as I was beginning to get interested in downloading movies.

By Wendell

April 1, 2009 2:32 PM | Link to this

I guess that's one way to stimulate AT&T U-verse sales and Grande Communications.

By Aggie

April 1, 2009 2:30 PM | Link to this

What's the thickness of my underwear holder-uper got to do with 'puters?

By Toby

April 1, 2009 2:29 PM | Link to this

Hey, yeah, everyone on UVerse, AT&T is also experimenting with bandwidth caps. See the article on DSL reports. You might soon want to reconsider your UVerse too.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/99389

By hg

April 1, 2009 2:28 PM | Link to this

granda is $14.95 in san marcos

By Nicole

April 1, 2009 2:26 PM | Link to this

Yeah, if AT&T is smart, they ramp up their capability for UVerse to catch everyone who's going to be upset with TWC.

By troy

April 1, 2009 2:23 PM | Link to this

anyone know a good alternative for roadrunner in the arboretum area?

By hakujin

April 1, 2009 2:23 PM | Link to this

Everyone suggesting a move to U-Verse... you do realize that ATT is also testing metered billing now right. TWC understand the only way they'll succeed in FioS-less markets is if their competitors are doing the same. They are in cahoots!
Ref:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/99389

By Mr. R

April 1, 2009 2:22 PM | Link to this

As someone who's been with Time Warner since the second wave of beta testers, I'll be departing for something else if this comes to terms here in Austin. Bad bad news. They might shed away a few of their top bandwidth users by doing this, but it will also be bad press for them in the long run.

By Chris

April 1, 2009 2:22 PM | Link to this

I'll be on Uverse so fast it'll make their heads swim! It may be slower, but you get charged for speed bumps, not traffic.

By Matt McDougall

April 1, 2009 2:19 PM | Link to this

This is disgusting.

I understand consumption has outpaced subscriber growth (duh...people are getting more out of the internet these days), and I'd even be sympathetic to rate hikes to the flat monthly fees.

But the ridiculously low data caps and one more thing to keep tabs on every month? I'll be taking my $$$ somewhere else the moment they implement this.

By Jodi Paul

April 1, 2009 2:18 PM | Link to this

I will cancel so fast it will make the Roadrunner's head spin.

By dirk

April 1, 2009 2:18 PM | Link to this

Grande doesn't cover Cedar Park. Any alternatives?

By Romsfou

April 1, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this

This is clearly an April fool! Good one...

By orangeblood

April 1, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this

Time to say goodbye to Time Warner. Hello, U-verse.

By simplygreg

April 1, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this

What are the options if you can't hang a dish and don't have access to Grande? I had already fired TWC once but went back like a beaten dog. The day I get this announcement from them, I guess AT&T U-Verse will have one more customer.

But real question, what are the options for those in 78704?

By Carrie

April 1, 2009 2:14 PM | Link to this

Richard Scheffrin: They're doing trial runs in Reno, NV. The lowest cap being 20GB and the highest tier being 150GB.

By Koolaidman

April 1, 2009 2:12 PM | Link to this

I loathe time warner cable. Their customer service is by far the worst I have ever had with a cable company. I don't know what alternatives I have, I play games online and stream movies from netflix. If they are going to start charging extra for it I will just go without. I will use someone else's PC to pay bills. I pay $46 a month for a 7.0 connection that is 1.0 at best. They have done nothing to fix it and their tech support is not even in texas. Plus it takes over an hour to talk to them. This is a company that has grown too much for its own good. When I had Grande I had 1.5 DSL that was WAY faster than TW. I declare Shennanigans!

By Mark Miller

April 1, 2009 2:12 PM | Link to this

I called Time Warner Cable, here in Austin, and they said that I would still be held liable for my Price-Lock Guarantee, even if they implement the tiered bandwidth caps.

...that's small claims court worthy.

By Derek

April 1, 2009 2:08 PM | Link to this

Well, I'm switching cable/internet providers. Thanks TWC!

By john

April 1, 2009 2:08 PM | Link to this

Go Dish Network. They are cheaper and better. Time Warner alomst has a monopoly, that's why they can jack rates up.

By Larry

April 1, 2009 2:07 PM | Link to this

Austin gives TWC a virtual monopoly. Do we get any input on this issue? I just got their full plan including cable, internet and phone. If they do this I will definitely drop something as a sign of displeasure. Will probably start with the phone. Will see how much problems their internet decision causes before I make a decision on that service. Looks like right now is not a good time to start ripping us off with higher fees.

By matt w.

April 1, 2009 2:07 PM | Link to this

Time Warner's quest to be the worst cable company in the country marches on.

By VideoVic

April 1, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this

This is a short sighted plan. Consumers demand choice, and over the next 4 years, the FCC will change its protectionist tune and get with the program. Imagine TWC like GM in front of Congress begging for a bailout for falling out of touch with consumers. Meet the market's needs or die.

Switch to DSL, get Uverse and pay less while getting more choice of programming and service. Act today! I have no connection to ATT, other than being a satisfied TWC customer that switched.

By moneywrangler

April 1, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this

I just dumped satellite because it was a rip off and went to tivo w/ netflix streaming. Now it looks like I'll have to dump RR too. It's a principle thing-I'm sick of these greedy corporations that try to squeeze out every drop of blood from us.

By Tired of IT

April 1, 2009 2:05 PM | Link to this

TWC just recently INFLATED my monthly bill, just like any other services provided to home owners. I havent recieved a raise in 3 years, 401k is down 41%, and the job is stressfull enough to worry about more layoffs. This is the last straw. I WILL find something else because TWC doesnt care nor any other service providers.
Back to the Antenna, and wireless service. I may just end up saving a few dollars!!

By Sara

April 1, 2009 2:04 PM | Link to this

This reminds me of the early '90s and getting charged by the hour for AOL service.

Just another reason I'll be leaving Time Warner for AT&T UVerse.

By pj

April 1, 2009 2:04 PM | Link to this

Wow, great timing. I switched to Grande fiber due to the higher speed but to be honest I have no love loss for time warner cable.

I think if they were honest about this service the pricing would start at a much lower point and you could just use the service ala carte. As it looks now, all they're doing is charging you the same base price and then charging you again for usage.

Maybe it's time for the public utilities to start offering bandwidth?

By Bj

April 1, 2009 2:04 PM | Link to this

This is not a good way to do business. I highly recommend Grande Communications. They have some really great speeds available now.

By Barry

April 1, 2009 2:01 PM | Link to this

Definitely give U-Verse a try... I have the "Elite" U-Verse, and it has been trouble free, and consistently over 5mbs downstream and 1mbs upstream... Time-Warner is a TERRIBLE company to deal with, and I will never, ever use them again. I'd go without service if they were my only alternative...

By Kelly

April 1, 2009 1:59 PM | Link to this

I will definitely be leaving time warner if this happens. Overall, I have been happy with their service, but there have been a couple of things that have made me consider changing. The day they announce that this is happening is the day they lose me as a customer.

By Richard Scheffrin

April 1, 2009 1:58 PM | Link to this

Carrie: I'm not aware of AT&T having a cap limit. I'm on DSL and have never run into any issues and I download a lot of content. I quit TWC about a year ago because of their horrible customer service and jumped to AT&T DSL.

By Bruce

April 1, 2009 1:54 PM | Link to this

Go Grande if you can. The service has been far more reliable, and the bill starts lower and stays lower.

By not a fan of TW

April 1, 2009 1:53 PM | Link to this

I've dropped TW for everything but high speed connection -- if they go this route, they'll lose me on that one too.

By GD

April 1, 2009 1:48 PM | Link to this

I primarily use the internet for e-mail and music downloads. So Time Warner's plans are telling me it's time to dump the PC or Laptop and go 100 percent blackberry or i-Pod. About 30 percent of folks will end up dropping the TWC connections just like we did with the telephone landlines. Why pay two bills for the same service?

By Husker

April 1, 2009 1:47 PM | Link to this

I will definitely drop Road Runner in addition to the digital phone service. Looking at giving att uverse a try.

By Hook'em98

April 1, 2009 1:47 PM | Link to this

I would already be with AT&T if they reached 5 houses further down my street. They only cover the front half of my neighborhood. Looks like Grande is the way to go. TWC is going to lose my business.

By ken

April 1, 2009 1:46 PM | Link to this

Do they publish customer's monthly statistics on the bills? I haven't noticed. This way you could anticipate what tier you should be in...if there is a choice at all.

By Mariam Asmar

April 1, 2009 1:42 PM | Link to this

We will also be adding a "super tier." 100 GB

See: http://www.businessinsider.com/time-warner-cable-to-offer-100-gb-plan-for-mega-downloaders-too-2009-4

By Alex

April 1, 2009 1:41 PM | Link to this

I have a feeling Grande's business is going to explode. I think Austinites will have to make a huge push against this, or encourage other options to establish competition. This is pretty crappy.

By Carrie

April 1, 2009 1:31 PM | Link to this

I'm furious.
I had a bad feeling this was coming when I first heard about it last year, but I tried to remain optimistic that we'd be one city that would not be put through these 'trials.' Even Comcast customers get up to 250GB/mo. At least that's reasonable. But 40GB/mo? (or 100GB/mo) No way. We stream movies and hulu all the time. I don't want to worry about some silly cap.

I'd move to another provider if I could but I live in an apartment complex, and all we can get is TWC. I guess DSL is an option, but what's the point if AT&T already has cap limits?

Verizon FIOS would be an option, but they're nowhere near Austin, seems TWC is going to cities that don't have any other competition. We're locked in. Unless Austinites can make a huge deal about this, maybe we can change it.

By eliz.

April 1, 2009 1:26 PM | Link to this

This royally sucks. Wish I could switch to Grande!