[Infowarrior] - Is the End of Unlimited Internet Near?

[Richard Forno]

Is the End of Unlimited Internet Near?
Comcast, Frontier and Time Warner Cable Are Moving Toward Imposing  
Internet Usage Caps
By KI MAE HEUSSNER

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5689480

Sept. 1, 2008 —

Get ready to say goodbye to unlimited Internet access.

Last week, Comcast -- the second-largest Internet service provider in  
the country -- announced that starting Oct. 1 it would officially set  
a threshold for monthly Internet usage.

In an online announcement, the service provider said that although it  
already contacts residential customers who use excessive amounts of  
bandwidth, it had never provided a specific limit. Now, Comcast said  
it will amend its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250  
gigabytes of monthly usage.

The company emphasizes that its cap is generous and will only affect  
about 1 percent of its 14.4 million customers. Experts say these  
customers might include heavy gamers and those who use a significant  
amount of bandwidth for creating or uploading video.

But industry watchers note that Comcast's decision is indicative of a  
trend by Internet service providers to move toward usage-based service  
plans.

On Aug. 1, Frontier Communications changed its policy to define  
acceptable use for high-speed Internet as 5 GB per month. In June,  
Time Warner Cable launched a test program in Beaumont, Texas, that  
imposes monthly Internet usage limits of 5 GB to 40 GB on subscribers.

Because Comcast is a heavyweight in the industry, its announcement has  
drawn criticism and questions from broadband and telecommunications  
researchers.

"The biggest problem I have [is] they haven't given us any data.  
They've given us no proof," said Om Malik, author of "Broadbandits:  
Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist" and editor of GigaOM, a popular  
technology Web site. Malik said GigaOm and five other technology news  
sites managed by his online publishing company, Giga Omni Media,  
receive about two million visitors each month.

Comcast's limit is substantially higher that those established by  
other service providers, Malik acknowledges. But he maintains that the  
company's decision amounts to metered billing and, if that's the case,  
it should provide a tool so that consumers can monitor their own usage.

"[With] electricity companies -- and water companies -- you have the  
choice to monitor the electricity you are using," said Malik, drawing  
comparisons between Comcast and regulated public utilities that  
maintain the infrastructure for public services.

"If they are going to behave like a utility, shouldn't they be treated  
like one?" he added.

He also argued that even though a 250 GB bandwidth cap is generous in  
today's terms, it may not be sufficient in the future, especially as  
bandwidth-needy, high-definition video becomes more common.

In its announcement, Comcast said its average residential customer  
uses approximately 2 to 3 GB. To put its monthly limit of 250 GB in  
perspective, the company said that to consume that much bandwidth a  
customer would have to send 50 million e-mails, 62,500 songs, download  
125 standard-definition movies or upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital  
photos.

Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas told ABCNews.com that the company  
has had an excessive use policy for years but has never disclosed its  
definition of excessive use.

When the customers would exceed the limit, he said Comcast would call  
to alert them. In most cases, the customer would voluntarily moderate  
his or her usage in response. If customers didn't cut back on usage,  
Comcast reserved the right to suspend service. Douglas said the only  
difference in the policy is that customers now know that the threshold  
is 250 GB per month.

He says Comcast does not provide a meter tool because free and fee- 
based meter tools are readily available and not necessary for 99  
percent of their consumers.

Although Douglas says that the company is evaluating usage-based  
billing models that resemble Time Warner's trial program, he stressed  
that this cap is different.

"This is about protecting the 99 percent of people who don't use a  
massive amount of bandwidth from the small percentage that does use an  
extreme amount," he said.

But industry experts observe that Internet technology is advancing  
rapidly and the lack of good data make it difficult to prepare for the  
future.

"Today's bandwidth hog is tomorrow's average user," said Fred Von  
Lohmann, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier  
Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties group. If a cap had been  
imposed on the top 10 percent of Internet users in 1997, many Internet  
innovations of today would likely not exist, he said.

While Von Lohmann said that no one has the right to unlimited Internet  
access, developments in the industry need to be monitored.

"This is not an emergency, but it is something that needs to be  
carefully watched," he said.

Like Malik, Von Lohmann said the industry would benefit from increased  
transparency, in terms of providing data regarding customers' Internet  
usage. Another major issue he flagged is competition.

Comcast sells high-definition video through other parts of its  
business off-line. These Internet usage limits essentially handicap  
competitors who want to deliver similar products online, he said.

Doug Williams, an analyst with media research firm Jupiter Research,  
told ABCNews.com that cable operators, such as Comcast, have been and  
will continue to be first movers in imposing bandwidth caps because  
they have a more immediate need to do so.

Unlike telephone companies that also provide Internet service, cable  
operators use a shared distribution network. Extremely heavy use by a  
single connection has a negative and direct impact on other users in  
that area, he said.

As cable operators continue to impose these caps, telephone companies  
will be paying close attention to the customer response to determine  
if they should move in the same direction.

Williams says that for customers accustomed to a world of unlimited  
Internet access, these caps might not be welcome changes. As cell  
phone plans, long-distance telephone packages and other services move  
to flat-rate, unlimited approaches, this is a step in the opposite  
direction, he said.

"I think that's going to be something that consumers are not going to  
be particularly happy about. But they might not have many options for  
recourse," he said. "That's not going to make people happy --  
especially in this economic climate."

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