Online Public Relations Thoughts

Charging for the amount of bandwidth used on the internet is despised in the US. People believe they should be able to consume as much as they need whether one or two gigabytes per month for normal activities or 75 to 100 gigabytes to download movies. That is why Time Warner is risking its reputation in its effort to control broadband usage through metering downloads. Time Warner's position is that it has to pay for equipment to handle escalating traffic -- a reasonable explanation. No one, however, wants to hear it. There are claims that Time Warner is profiting from metering -- a shame in capitalist America.

The fact is that the internet has become an essential utility that users believe they should get for a modest fee at best. No one wants to consider the cost of maintaining the utility. Time Warner is bucking that belief and might get away with it, but it is doubtful. Look for eventual internet commissions like public utility commissions that will dictate rates that bandwidth providers can set. As for now, it is a major public relations issue for the company.