Time Warner Expands Bandwidth Cap Trials With New Pricing, Cities

We’ve previously reported Time Warner Cable’s bandwidth cap experiment in Beaumont, Texas, an excercise that the company stated was one of necessity to curb the abusive habits of a tiny, but powerful, minority of users.  Now the future of Time Warner Cable’s comsumption-based pricing has been uncovered by the New York Times . Landel Hobbs, Time Warner Cable’s COO, published a blog post with the new price tiers for an expanded four-city experiment. It was only a matter of time, we suppose. The good news: If you’re concerned that streaming shows from Hulu or music from Slacker will increase the chances of running into (or going over) your cap, don’t fret; Time Warner Cable has actually upped the capacity of the plans it had tested in Beaumont. The original bandwidth cap trial had ranged from 5GB ($29.95 per month) to 40GB ($54.90 per month); the new plans run from 10GB ($25 per month) to 60GB ($65 per month) depending on location. In addition, Time Warner Cable will introduce a new $75 per month plan that grants users 100GB of bandwidth. Exceeding your alotted bandwidth will hit you with a $1 per GB fee. Total overcharge fees will be capped at $75. If you desire less bandwidth or you want to save some coin, Time Warner Cable will also have a $15 option that provides 1GB of bandwidth. Overage charges, however, will be $2 per GB. The company says that approximately 30 percent of its customer use less than 1GB per month. So where and when will these new schemes go into effect? Trials will begin in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August, with San Antonio and Austin, Texas, getting the green light in October. Hat Tip: The New York Times