Resources

Here are some resources with additional information about the Time-Warner Cable (TWC) metered Internet proposal, and background information about broadband services in the United States.

Please stay tuned. We will be adding information about Austin broadband providers in the next couple days.

Please send updates and feedback to: info [at] austinbroadband [dot] info

Journalists

These journalists are providing ongoing coverage of the TWC metered Internet proposal.

Digital Savant by Omar Gallaga
Omar Gallaga is the technology culture writer for the Austin America-Statesman. He has been tracking the TWC issue on his work blog.
Stacey Higginbotham at GigaOM
Austin-based journalist Stacey Higginbotham has been providing extensive coverage of the TWC issue in GigaOM, an on-line technology news source.

Protest Sites

The following sites have been setup in protest of the TWC metered Internet proposal.

Stop the Cap!
By Phillip Dampier from Rochester area, NY.
Meter This!
By John McElhenney from Austin.
Stop TWC!

Articles

Time Warner Cable Charts a New Course on Consumption Based Billing (Apr. 16, 2009)
Statement from TWC. “[TWC] today announced it would alter plans to test Consumption Based Billing, shelving the trials while the customer education process continues.”
Consumption Based Billing FAQs (Apr. 10, 2009)
Information from TWC Corporate on how metered broadband will work. My favorite FAQ is the one about paying for pop-ups and ads.
Statement from Landel Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer, Time Warner Cable RE: Consumption based billing trials (Apr. 9, 2009)
Statement from TWC COO with most recent news on the metered usage plan and its justification. This statement is the primary source for dates and numbers being quoted.
Time Warner Cable Earnings Refute Bandwidth Cap Economics (Wired “Epicenter” Blog, Apr. 9, 2009)
Reports that the broadband costs rationale given in the Apr. 9 Hobbs statement does not hold up to scrutiny.
The Internet is collapsing: again (“NotShort.net” blog. Dec. 8, 2007)
A blog post by Joey Long that exposes the Nemertes report, quoted in the Apr. 9 Hobbs statement, as research sponsored by an industry-funded lobby group.
Congressman Eric Massa to introduce legislation designed to prevent Job Killing Broadband Internet Caps (Apr. 10, 2009)
Press statement by Rep. Eric Massa.
Official from Time Warner: Tiers won’t affect Price Lock customers (Austin American-Statesman “Digital Savant” Blog, Apr. 8, 2009)
Omar Gallaga reports that TWC customers who have signed a “Price Lock Guarantee” will not be subject to broadband metering for the term of their agreement.
Time Warner Cable Says It Singled Out Austin’s Geeks (GigaOM. Apr. 6, 2009)
Stacey Higginbotham highlights rationale why TWC chose Austin as one of its trial locations.
World’s Fastest Broadband at $20 Per Home (New York Times “Bits” Blog. Apr. 3, 2009)
Describes how Japan’s largest broadband provider is able to offer 160Mbps service (that’s about ten times the best Road Runner speed) for about $60/month.
Time Warner Cable Expands Internet Usage Pricing (Business Week. Mar. 31, 2009)
This is the article that initially broke the story about Time-Warner Cable planning to begin metered Internet trials in Austin.
TWC/Road Runner tiered Internet pricing coming to Austin/San Antonio (Austin American-Statesman “Digital Savant” Blog. Apr. 1, 2009)
Omar Gallaga reports on the breaking news that TWC plans to trial metered broadband in Austin.
Time Warner Cable Wants to Introduce Two-Tiered Internet Pricing (Burnt Orange Report. Apr. 2, 2009)
Blog post by Phillip Martin that rounds up a lot of the initial information and response. Of particular note, contains text of statements by two mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken
Time Warner Cable capping: gigabytes of fallout (Austin American-Statesman “Digital Savant” Blog. Apr. 3, 2009)
Omar Gallaga reports on the initial response to the metered trials in Austin.

Background & Data

U.S. Broadband Penetration, Speeds Lag Behind Other Countries (Information Week, May 21, 2008)
Article on the widely-reported OECD report that ranks U.S. broadband availability 15th out of 30 countries studied, following a declining trend since 2001.
Explaining International Broadband Leadership (The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. May 1, 2008)
“In identifying factors that have spurred broadband performance in other nations, we present key findings that government and the technology industry must recognize if we are to find the right course for the United States. And we propose key policy recommendations that will drive greater broadband performance.” A table is available for download showing the penetration, speed, and price rankings. (231KB PDF document)
Welcome to Consumption-based Broadband (GigaOM. Feb. 4, 2009)
Stacey Higginbotham compares bandwidth management practices of leading national broadband service providers. Notes that most providers use a very high fixed cap to limit excess use of problem users, whereas Time-Warner Cable proposes a tiered system that impacts all users.

Broadband Providers

coming soon…