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Time Warner Cable Experimenting Metered Broadband Access

Time Warner Experimenting with Download LimitsBack in the old days of the Internet, when a 14.4 kilobyte-per-second dial-up connection was hot, providers charged by the hour -- a flat fee for a dozen or so hours' worth of time online and a couple bucks more for each additional. As Internet access became more popular, prices dropped and subscribers dumped such plans in favor of "all you can eat" packages, but it appears that Time Warner is feeling a bit retro, experimenting with these sorts of caps on unfortunate subscribers down in Texas.

About 90,000 customers of Time Warner's cable Internet access have been put on a new tiered and capped download service, ranging in price from a relatively anemic 768 kilobits-per-second for $30 per month up to a rather more speedy 15 megabits-per-second for $55 per month. Those prices are in-line with their current rates, but the catch is those caps: Just five gigabytes of downloads per month on the cheaper plan while the upper-tier plan is capped at forty gigabytes. There's a dollar-per-gig fee over that.

Forty gigabytes -- about a small iPod Nano's worth of tunes -- may sound like a lot, but this could be a huge roadblock to burgeoning video-on-demand services, as each film's size can easily exceed one to two gigabytes (with high-definition downloadable films often twice that or more). If you're also into music streaming, online gaming, or downloading the latest apps to your machine, this change could potentially be quite expensive. Will it succeed? That remains to be seen, but if initial reactions are any clue, Verizon's competing FiOS service might just be seeing a flood of new subscribers in the near future. [Disclosure: Switched is part of the Time Warner family] [Source: AOL Money & Finance]

Verizon FiOS Boosts Internet Upload Speeds -- For a Price

Verizon FiOS Boosts Upload Speeds, For a Price
Verizon's FiOS service has already been putting the heat on cable providers in the ISP realm, offering blisteringly fast downloads and impressive upload speeds at prices comparable to most cable providers.

Depending on where you live, you can nab a connection at speeds up to 50 megabits downstream and 5 megabits up. Many cable providers have begun to catch up with Verizon in the quest for the fastest download speeds -- for example, Cablevision offers a 30-megabit download package, which matches the fastest Verizon speeds in many markets. At these speeds, a full length album downloads in seconds and a DVD-quality movie in just a couple of minutes.

Most service providers have not put as much focus on ramping up their upload speeds, however, which is what lets you send or post big files quickly. Most cable companies are stuck in the 256 kilobit to 1.5 megabit range, falling far short of Verizon's 5-megabit speeds. But rather than let other providers catch up, Verizon is boosting its upload speeds... for a price.

Verizon unveiled a new 20/20 plan that, as the name implies, allows a 20-megabit download and upload speeds. The plan is only available currently in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. In these markets, the 20 megabit download package is the mid range service and costs $55 a month. For $10 more, Verizon will boost the upload limit from 5 to 20 megabits, allowing users to send data at the same breakneck speeds they receive.

In the new Internet where file sharing and uploading photos and videos is king, a fast upload connection quickly proves its usefulness. Sending hi-def video to friends and family without having to occupy your computer for days becomes a reality, and online back-up services become actually useful.

We'd still rather see Verizon keep the current price points and give us symmetrical service at all levels, but this is a step in the right direction.

From BetaNews

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