Time Warner Cable to Test Out COMBINED Monthly Upload and Download Cap

Beginning this Thursday, new Internet subscribers in Beaumont,Texas will have to choose from packages that range from $30p/mo and a total 5GB upload and download data cap to $55p/mo and a 40GB total cap.

There’s a saying that goes “Don’t mess with Texas,” but it seems that Time Warner Cable will be doing just that later this week.

For starting this Thursday, new customers seeking Internet service from the company will be facing monthly data transfer caps which apparently limit the COMBINED AMOUNT amount of data both uploaded as well as downloaded.

Packages will range from $29.95 p/month for a 768kbps connection and a 5GB monthly cap to $54.90 p/month for a 15mbps connection and a 40GB cap. Customers who charged $1 for each GB that exceeds their limit.

“We think it’s the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure,” said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s executive VP of advanced technology. He said the plan is in response to the fact that just 5% of users consume more than 50% of network bandwidth.

It will give customers an initial 2 month grace period to grow accustomed to the rules, even offering a a handy “gas gauge” on its website for them to monitor their usage.

The plan is disturbing for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being that 40GB of allowed DL and UL usage for the so-called “top tier” package is downright insulting. The 5GB cap for the cheapest package is just too sickening to even contemplate.

For BitTorrent users who frequent private tracker sites and so are mindful of share ratios the caps must be halved to account for a 1:1 seeding for each download.

Thus, this means 2.5GB and 20GB monthly data caps for the cheapest and most expensive packages respectively. BitTorrent users would have to be awfully careful before choosing which TV shows, movies, music, or games they wish to download. They’d have to write off Blu-ray altogether.

Additional trouble would arise for those who like to watch streaming videos on sites like TVLinks, or those who listen to streaming audio via Pandora or Last.fm.

It’s said that the plan is just a trial, that it may only spread to other markets if the tests prove successful. However, what are the benchmarks? Cable companies have virtual monopolies over broadband connections in this country because there are simply no overlapping competitors. Customers can’t vote with their feet and choose another ISP. They take what they can get and just pray they don’t get charged too much. So the trial will show one thing – increased network bandwidth – and thereby make the test a success.

Talk about messing with Texas.