AT&T to cap broadband use2011-05-02 13:59 by DanielaTags: AT&T, broadband
Wireless carrier AT&T has become the second broadband provider in the US to limit the amount of broadband that its customers use. Comcast was the first cable operator that started charging its customers on how much broadband they use. The purpose of the new charges is to force people to limit the use of online video services, such as Hulu and Netflix by making heavy users pay more. According to cable operators the caps are high enough - 150-250 GB per month, and this is a rate that few customers can reach. To get a better idea of what this means, consider that watching a high-definition movie online is the equivalent of approximately 2 GB per hour, and standard definition movies use about 0.3 GB per hour to 1.0 GB an hour. AT&T's customers will have to pay $10 extra per month for every 50 GB extra broadband they use. Read more -here-
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sava700 - 2011-05-02 17:31
Yeah doesn't surprise me... once we allow one ISP to get away with a cap (Comcast) then the others will follow and it will hurt innovation in the long run while every day we continue to get services online that require more and more bandwidth.
Sava700 is 100% correct... What also is alarming, is that it is illegal as well. Why? Because when you, the end user bought this service from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) there was "no" clause in the Terms of Service (TOS) that said that you, the user agree to the bandwidth cap that AT&T and I'm sure others ISP will be following. That is a 100% true face. Another true fact that Sava700 pointed out, is ISP's like AT&T and also Comcast and other "do not" want end users use streaming movie services like NetFlix and Hulu. They would rather over charge you for their service and make you pay "more" for that sort of service and charge you "more" for regular internet use. It's a WIN/WIN for the ISP companies. All of this wraps up with Net Neutrality that legal entities and groups have not reacted on enough and / or side stepped the issue when presented.
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