In Southern Texas, Time Warner Cable is offering customers $5 off their bill if they’ll agree to a 5GB cap on data usage. Where have we seen this before?
Time Warner Cable is at it again.
The company this week announced the launch of a usage-based pricing plan in Southern Texas. The service is available to customers in San Antonio, Laredo, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Value, and the Border Corridor, the company said in a blog post.
Dubbed the Essentials Plan, the offering limits subscribers to 5GB of data usage a month in exchange for a $5 discount to their monthly bill. Time Warner Cable says customers can opt-in or opt-out of the deal at any time, and subscribers will get a “meter” to let them see where they stand over the period. Upon going over their limit, customers will be charged $1 per GB of usage, not to exceed $25 a month, the company says.
Time Warner Cable tried something similar a few years ago, and the plan failed miserably. The company’s initial plan to cap broadband speeds–which it also kicked off in Texas–drew anger and concern from lawmakers, including former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), who promised to introduce a bill in Congress that would limit tiered broadband in areas where only one ISP was available. More
