Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Comcast Places Limits on Internet Download Hogs
What would you do if you received a letter from your Internet provider that they decided to place a limit on your Internet usage? or How would you react if you received a letter, along with your bill, that you would be charged additional fees if you exceed your limit?
As far as the cafe I use to visit, I know longer give them my business because I feel the manager did not use tact when he told me that I exceeded my usage. Now I use a cafe that offers customers free Wi-Fi and they don't harass me just as long as I make an additional purchase once in a while.
Well, the U.S. broadband company, Comcast, has been waiting with anticipation to limit their most active subscribers from Internet downloads. So, on October 1, Comcast, is planning to place limits on their subscribers online usage. According to a Comcast spokesperson, 250 gigabytes totaled up to 100 times the normal usage. So, that means their customers on average use about 2-3 gigabytes on a monthly basis and about less than 1% of their customers use well over that amount.
If you're considered one that routinely exceeds your internet usage (an Internet hog,) according to Comcast, you have to download a total of 62,500 songs or 125 movies per month to exceed your usage. The Internet giant claims that they decided to limit usage to 'ensure fair access to the network' to all of their subscribers. Time Warner Cable joined the bandwagon this past June when they started a monitoring trial in Texas by offering monthly plans and charging customers extra when they exceed their bandwidth limit.
Several critics feel that this is just a cheesy plot to thicken the wallets of Internet providers by limiting Internet access. Several customers feel this is unfair, especially for entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry who use this technology regularly. Comcast customers aren't the only ones who feel their decision to place a cap on downloads is way too drastic. It is said that the founder of GigaOm, Om Malik, described the limit decision as "the end of the Internet as we know it."
If you're considered one that routinely exceeds your internet usage (an Internet hog,) according to Comcast, you have to download a total of 62,500 songs or 125 movies per month to exceed your usage. The Internet giant claims that they decided to limit usage to 'ensure fair access to the network' to all of their subscribers. Time Warner Cable joined the bandwagon this past June when they started a monitoring trial in Texas by offering monthly plans and charging customers extra when they exceed their bandwidth limit.
Several critics feel that this is just a cheesy plot to thicken the wallets of Internet providers by limiting Internet access. Several customers feel this is unfair, especially for entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry who use this technology regularly. Comcast customers aren't the only ones who feel their decision to place a cap on downloads is way too drastic. It is said that the founder of GigaOm, Om Malik, described the limit decision as "the end of the Internet as we know it."
This news reminds me of a popular cafe that offers free Wi-Fi that I use to visit frequently. I would do research on my laptop while sipping my Mocha every day. One day the manager approached me and said, "You have to give other customers a chance to sit and work on their laptops, otherwise you will have to buy a Mocha every 30 minutes."
Whether its cafe owners or Internet companies - it makes no difference - they have the right to discontinue a particular service to customers who overuse it or charge additional fees to customers who exceed their limits. I like Time Warner's idea of offering customers an opportunity to purchase services and when they exceed their limits, then they know up-front that they will be charged additional costs - there's no hard feelings.