No so fast. Two days ago, we picked up on a D&C story that said Time Warner Cable was dropping it's plan to set up a tiered pricing model for broadband usage in the Rochester (which includes Batavia) market.
Now Evan Dawson at WHAM 13 has Time Warner officials putting a rather different spin on their plans.
Robin Wolfgang of Time Warner said, "We really didn't think the customers were educated very well on what the plans were, and there's a lot of information in the marketplace. We want to take some time. We want to give them a chance to understand our plans."
Wolfgang says there is no timetable for how long the company will take to re-evaluate its plan to charge customers based on Internet usage.
But Time Warner is certainly not giving up on the idea.
"As we tried to tell you, in the first phase of the trial we found that most customers were able to right-size and pay less based on their usage,” Wolfgang said. “It takes a lot to use five gigabytes of space. A lot of emails, a lot of songs. So most customers would not be affected."
It's hard not to read between the lines here and conclude: Time Warner customers can expect, at some point, to get a new pricing plan, and it will likely attempt to punish heavy users with higher prices.
I read an article giving that
I read an article giving that line about "customer education" yesterday afternoon.
Then I muttered "you bastards" under my breath.
I think Time Warner is
I think Time Warner is pricing them self right out of the market.. greed will do that.
People should still keep the
People should still keep the pressure on Time Warner..Batavia has a advisory board ,call them and tell them what you think
CABLE TV ADVISORY BOARD [ top ]
The Cable TV Advisory Board is responsible for monitoring and advising Time Warner Cable about their operations. This board consists of 7 members.
Contact: Robert Knipe, Board Chair (585) 343-0055 ext. 6595
Make them do their job....
Heh, Bob Knipe works at GCC.
Heh, Bob Knipe works at GCC. Wonderful guy. Didn't know he was the CTV chair until now.
We already pay more for
We already pay more for internet usage and bandwidth.I am a time warner customer.If i wanted slow speed i'd have stayed with dial up.Its 25 mb just to watch a video on you tube.So if i upload picss or videos that must cost more.I hope fios gets here soon.I will have to change service providers if they do this.Some sort of broadband at least.I do not like the way time warner treats customers.They say i have to pay one month in advance.It took them 3 weeks to hook me up here.And i always paid them on time.So they use customers one month advance money for whatever they want....looking for a new I P...dan
I use Cheetah, it's DSL
I use Cheetah, it's DSL through Empire Telephone. I don't know if it is offered in other areas, but if you have Empire Telephone (East Pembroke exchange) you can get it. Works great, very fast, not too costly. www.empiretelephone.com to see if you can get it.
I have Verizon DSL right
I have Verizon DSL right through my phone line at a minimal cost. Its fast, efficient, and doesn't hurt my budget. Time Warner is relentless. Even in a finacial crisis they choose to try anything, to take advantage of their costomers. They have been Monopolizing Genesee County long enough!
Just My Opinion
Got your phone message,
Got your phone message, Howard, and will call you about this - also another call from another gentleman, on the same issue, which I will return.
The bottom line is that the City of Batavia Cable Advisory Committee's charge has to do with the franchise for CABLE TV ONLY, not for broadband. I am aware of the discussions about charging differential rates for bandwidth usage, but that discussion is separate from the Cable Advisory Committee. Different issues... but cloudy ones, due to technology convergence and bandwidth availability. It's a complicated world.
The cable committee's current issue is that the TWC franchise expired in 2003 and is extended only by letter of permission from the NYS Cable Commission, every 6 months. Like most municipalities, Batavia's agreement with TWC is a nonexclusive franchise: anyone could come into Batavia and start a cable service. That's unlikely, due to infrastructure costs - and the availability of competing services from other utility providers (DSL, satellite TV, etc.).
Anyway, the committee feels TWC should abide by the conditions of its 1993 agreeement with the City (which expired in 2003). This includes local cable production crew and capability - which TWC (rather ungraciously and without notice) removed from Batavia in 2006/7. Basically TWC is in violation of 4 points of the franchise agreement. They've been informed by letter, and we've had initial talks, which included the City Manager, but no agreement's yet been reached. They're in no hurry, and frankly the City has had other irons in other fires lately too. But anyone interested in all this, or being on the committee, should call me, 343-5991, or email rgknipe@genesee.edu.
And no, the cable committe doesn't have the authority to regulate TWC's cable RATES - or CHANNEL LINE-UPS, either.
My advice to folks who don't like TWC's practices, prices or services, is to pursue other options. The good news for the public is that other options do exist.
Verizon is prepared to raise
Verizon is prepared to raise their prices too. They dont measure bandwith but they lack the MB's without FIOS in Batavia. Verizon wants to charge 27.99 for up to one MB and u only get 768kbps on a good day.
This is not fair for the
This is not fair for the small consumer. Unlike the Library where a lot of people go to check email, surf the net, they will not get the higher price structure being a business or education. This is a way to punish the consumer who purchases there product is just as bad as the price gauging when the gas prices were astronomical. They have the high speed market locked up in our area with the only choice in the cable broadband dept and no competition who can deliver the same service at the price we are paying. I have been a RR customer since the beginning paying the 39.95 a month with no discounts like they offer today for new customers. Just another tactic and way to make money in this struggling economy. I hope it bites them in the end.
1. There was never any proof
1. There was never any proof of price gauging.
2. It is fair, they get to charge what they want to for you to use their product. If you don't like it, switch.
3. Life isn't fair, buy a gun.