ISP Bandwidth Caps vs. Net Neutrality

The Internet has become a commonplace for communication and accessing data. Recently, Time Warner has decided to test a different approach on how users will pay for that access. Time Warner is leading the charge to begin data caps and usage based charges to consumers on Internet consumption. AS a result many users against this concept will abandon Time Warner and begin service with alternate service providers, such as Verizon or Comcast.

“Time Warner Cable will launch a trial program on Thursday which will impose monthly Internet consumption caps on new subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. Following a two-month grace period, cable users will pay $1 for each additional gigabyte consumed beyond the cap…

…The caps differ depending on the tier of service paid for by the consumer. The lowest level of service is a 768Kbps connection with a 5GB cap for $29.95 per month. The high-end package will offer 15MBps with a 40GB cap for $54.90 per month. Consumers will pay by the gigabyte for consumption in excess of the established caps. Customers will be able to see how much bandwidth they have left by visiting the Time Warner Cable web site.” For the full article, please click here.

Reaching and exceeding these data caps could be quite easy for an average user, which is set at 5GB for the low plan package. Watching YouTube videos, downloading music and video from iTunes, streaming television shows or sports games all add up quickly to the monthly data cap limits. With more and more websites and video downloads and streaming done in HD quality, reaching these caps will occur even faster.

This is the first post I have made on Net Neutrality. A Wikipedia entry explains the concept of net neutrality as “a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.”

To me Time Warner’s test program is the first step in what could be a complete overhaul of the Internet as we know it, an overhaul that will be unpleasant for the average user. Additionally, certain ISPs have been accused of throttling certain websites performance. ISPs controlling content, pushing “their” preferred websites and limiting access speeds to competitors’ sites will severely reduce the Internet as we know it today. In comparison to cable, you pay a monthly fee for basic cable channels. Your fee is increased for the digital cable package, and you must pay even more for premium channels such as HBO. Just apply that same concept to the Internet. You may get access to Google, Yahoo, and bundle of basic websites for the base price. If you want to access YouTube and the next tier of website, not so fast pay a higher monthly fee. For all those with social network profiles, if you wanted to sign into so called premium websites such as MySpace or Facebook that could cost you even more money per month. This concept will completely change the way people use the Internet and what website will be available. Also, with new restrictions on Internet usage companies like Google, Yahoo and many other developers may stop developing new and innovative features.

For an interesting article on bandwidth usage and how ISP throttling and data caps will affect small businesses, please click here. I hope this post helped spread the word about net neutrality to help keep access to the Internet open and equal to everyone and save the Internet as we know it.