Bad news for all who download tunes and flicks (legally or not). AT&T has decided to limit the amount of data customers can use each month. According to Business Week, five percent of AT&T's subscribers take up 50 percent of the capacity.
The limits will first affect Reno, NV subscribers this month, and then, if a revolution doesn't download, AT&T will limit data usage in other locations. The company's plan is to limit data use to 20 gigabytes per month for users of their slowest DSL service, with usage increasing with the speed of the plan -- up to 150 gigabytes per month at the 10 megabits-per-second level.
Using email and the web won't get you close to these limits, but if you use Netflix's watch instantly feature, the iTunes store, or P2P file sharing you could reach that number pretty quickly. Luckily subscribers will be able to track their downloads on AT&T's site, and will be contacted by the company when they reach 80 percent of their limit. It'll cost a $1 a gig after you've reached your limit....
AT&T isn't the only ISP to tighten the bandwidth belt. Comcast, last month, began a nationwide traffic limit of 250 gigabytes per subscriber. The company won't charge extra for going over limit, though it will cancel service after repeated warnings. Time Warner Cable Inc. and FairPoint Communications Inc. are both planning or testing traffic limits as low as 5 gigabytes per month!
Verizon Communications Inc. is one of the only mega ISPs that's holding out, but who knows for how long.
Have any of you been burned by broadband limits?
photo: Interconnects
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Comments (6)
I really hope this doesn't work out and they don't plan to limit everyone. I download and surf the web all day I don't want to worry about having to pay more.
My parents have satellite internet and they have to be careful at what websites they look at because just the pictures on the pages count towards their limit.
I don't agree with it.
This throttling will put limits on those who use the internet as part of their daily lives. Watching HD shows will now be a problem.
It would seem the ISPs are only doing this to make more money off of those who use their services heavily.
You want someone else to pay for your bandwidth? You don't agree with it? What does that mean? ISPs should operate for free? What other business should give their product away at no charge?
Fontessa, you should have the ability to pay for unlimited bandwidth. Capping is a HUGE step back. Restructuring pricing is not.
I think this is terrible. I think that they should upgrade their technology to meet rising demand rather than limit their customers. I would seriously cancel my internet if Time Warner put a 5 gig limit on me. That is hardly anything, and they are the worst provider I have ever been with.
This is obviously an attempt to make more money.
And Fontessa, nobody I have ever known expects ISPs to operate for free. I pay my internet bill every month, and it almost seems like a lot for not having the most reliable connection as it is.
I do think that putting a high limit is reasonable. I can't imagine using more than 250 gigs a month! I don't think I could use half that, even running downloads all night and day.
Most of these providers have a government-protected monopoly, which is how they can get away with crap like this. The simple solution is to make such monopolies illegal. If these clowns had competition, there's no way they'd attempt stunts like this.