Time Warner Holding Back Super-fast Broadband?
The saga continues.
Time Warner Cable's consumption-based billing trials brought along with it testing of the new DOCSIS 3.0 system.
DOCSIS 3.0 promises much improved throughput speeds and Time Warner Cable was set to roll out a 50 Mbps service in conjunction with the upgraded standard.
While details are still sketchy, it seems that the whole speed upgrade and consumption-based billing were tied more closely together than previously let on. Now that the tiered system is being shelved, so too might be the rollout of the newer technology.
Alex Dudly, VP of PR at TWC, posted a response on his Twitter to a question from GigaOM’s Stacey Higginbotham saying that the DOCSIS 3.0 was scheduled as part of consumption-based billing trial, but that consumer backlash has changed the company’s plans.
GigaOM got clarification from TWC, who said it is now “reevaluating whether or not the trial cities are among those places” scheduled for DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts.
The cities originally targeted for TWC’s trials were San Antonio and Austin, Texas; Greensboro, N.C., and Rochester N.Y.
What’s likely to be happening right now is that TWC has gone back to the drawing board on how to re-approach this most delicate situation. Hopefully we’ll get more detailed explanations outside of tweets constrained to no more than 140 characters.

Old way: You run a marathon on foot but you get to go 26 miles.
New way: They give you a ferrari but you're only allowed to drive it 100 meters.
How does that make sense??
Old way: You run a marathon on foot but you get to go 26 miles.
New way: They give you a ferrari but you're only allowed to drive it 100 meters.
How does that make sense??
I say let those who want the superfast connections just pay more and let those who are happy with their current speeds to pay no more than $35-40 a month. I mean it's competitive with other countries. I don't need anymore than 12 Mbs downloads. I'm completely fine with that but NO bandwidth limitations.
But what do I know...I'm only a consumer
If the numbers leaving TW start reaching into the tens of thousands then you are removing million$ per month from TW and that is the type of action that is needed.
Do we need more competition? I'm sad to say that I have ONE cable option where I live and ONE dsl option. They're both 1.5meg down and both charge $40+/mo. It sucks. I can barely stream a South Park episode online. Forget streaming HQ content. I have to pause and let it load.
.. and then I read that a Japan company offers something like 50meg for $35. Give me an effing break.
It's only competitive to countries like Mexico, Somalia, (insert 3rd world with internet access here) Look at countries like Germany and Japan where the internet infrastructure promotes growth and speed and doesn't hinder it based of profit margins.
Scumbags.
Hey Time Warner, I don't know if you noticed, but we're in a recession.
Maybe now is not the best time to try and gouge the fuck out of your customers, when every customer is monitoring their expenses, if only a bit more.
How stupid can you be? I hope these idiotic choices that you've made cause a slip in your market share.
Then you can explain to your shareholders how such a small group of greedy corporate swine, were able to fuck up in such a massive way.