Are they bringing in download limits in the US?

Hello all,

Just a quick question, do any of our American forum members know of download caps to be introduced to broadband connections? (be that dsl or cable) Here in Australia the broadband market is very expensive (the major supplier starts a service for 500mb at $59 AUD, about $25 US per month).

It seems that the American companies have caught onto the 'success' of the broadband caps in Australia as broadband take up in Australia is growing strongly.

So do you have caps or not?

 

Almost all do!

Only some charge by the limit of the download size!

Dialups smallest sometimes as low as 1meg and almost always have max limit.

broadband it is usually the faster you buy the higher the limit.

Very few have no limit or is so high most never exceed it.

I don't know what my own limit is never checked but have downloaded 128 megs in one shot!

mike

 

I have no current limit, eat all you want! (Comcast)

Pricing plans
Here’s how three major cable providers stack up now and a glance at where they’re headed.

Company Price Plans

Time Warner $44.95 per month. To charge heavy users extra later this year.

Comcast $39.95 per month; $44.95 with modem rental. No impending pricing changes.

Cox Commnications $34.95 per month; $49.95 with modem rental. To introduce 128K bit/sec symmetrical services later this year.

 

Calculus --Are you talking download quantity or download speed? 500mb (bits) (or roughly 60MB (bytes)) would be a pretty small quantity for a month if you mean quantity. It would be very fast if you mean speed per second.
I am not aware of any caps in the US on download quantity (though perhaps it is a cap that some ISP's will shut down after a period of "inactivity "--which includes downloading--unless you have a pinger or other means of showing activity).
However, broadband providers routinely put caps on download speed, especially after their initial entry into a market. (When I first signed up with cable the ISP provided 2500kbps speeds. Then it folded and the replacement ISP provides only about 1600kbps. The price, of course, stayed the same at the time and recently, in fact, has gone up. )
I understand some ISP's (not where I live yet) provide various "Tiers" of service--faster downloads and/or upload speeds for differing monthly payment. I suppose it will only be a matter of time before we have that, too. However, I have not heard of limits to the quantity of download permitted.

 

It had to start somewhere I suppose. Australia is alphabetically first in line.

http://australianit.news.com.au/article2/0,7237,5578378^15301^^nbv^,00.html

 

Oh!

You mean amout possible to download over a period of time.

Yep! That too.

Mike

 

I am talking about the amount you can download, not speed. Most speeds here are 512/256k but some are leaning towards 1500/128 so you can download more faster, and hence, spend more money! (suckers, aren't we?)

 

God I hope they dont cap the volume of data you can download, that would put a heck of a crunch in my **** downloading!

 

Calculus--Thanks for your post and alerting us to what the future may bring.
The 500mb quantity limit is scary. That will barely handle a month's worth of Norton Virus Definition updates, not to mention the various MS Security updates and other Critical Updates. That leaves no room for fun, such mentioned by ssmith10pn.

 

and for those of you interested..

Here is a link to the information that I have read

http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1029

 

I guess that would mean no more 750MB Linux ISO files

 

broadband companies are scheming

Somewhere somehow I came across a broadband industry
newsletter . This was about 2 or 3 months ago.
The article dealt with the attempts of the industry to deal up
capping and billing schemes. They are trying to dream it up.
However with the competition between modalities no one wants to be first to implement these charges.
In Canada broadband is somehow cheaper than the U.S.
Generally either type is about $ 40 Can pesos a month.
(who knows the conversion maybe $25 U.S.)
There is more of a hidden monopoly situation with cable.
i.e. some companies but somehow either two families (somehow
most of the owners either have the surname Rogers or Shaw
of course this is a concidence). Also we a government regulatory
board (the C.R.T.C) with lots of political patronage. Somehow
though the rates have stayed relatively low as compared to the U.S.
Both broadband carriers have determined that 85% of the
downloads are by 15% of the subscribers.
To this end they offer two tiers of broadband service.
A lite broadband package perfectly acceptable for web surfing and
a few downloads. Priced at $ 24.95 a month. A full high speed
broadband connection as stated runs at $ 40 a month.
However the deal is structured with installation fees and
other fees and rebates so that it is foolish to sign up for the lite
package. If you want details go www.shaw.ca.
Somehow the dial up I.S.P.s finally woke up and realized that
the broadband carriers are trying to force them out of business.
My 13 year old son can argue with good merit that it makes no
sense to sign up for dial up and as well tie up your phone
while waiting forever for downloads for essentially the same price
per month.
If you want to start an endless debate among your friends
or enemies ask them "which is the better choice- cable or
DSL ". The answers will be full of misconceptions , misunderstandings and mistruths.
I have tried to ask my carrier about what kind of speeds
I can reasonably expect in peak and non-peak periods and what is the speed comparison between the two products.

After three e-mails this is the answer that I recieved (really)
There are no standard speeds in reference to our High-Speed Internet Service. Our speed is measured by technology referred to as broadband, and transmits data at speeds up to 100 times faster than a standard 28.8 Kbps telephone modem.
I will attempt to search for the broadband industry article
on limiting broadband users and billing them for useage.
Lastly you might want to read the article posted in the general discussion area : "A.O.L. Anatomy of a Longshot ".
Very funny however true. Do not buy AOL stock!!!

 

now I won't sleep at night !!!!

this is dated dec14, 2002



Dec 14, 2002


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The end of unlimited Internet:
Rogers & Sympatico initiate caps


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several weeks ago, Sympatico stated in a press release it would include monthly download caps on it's high speed Internet service which uses a telephone line with the DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) protocol to connect it's users to an "always-on" Internet connection. The largest provider of it's kind in the country.

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Rogers made a similar press release. If Sympatico started capping it's users, Rogers Hi-Speed Internet (formerly Rogers@Home) would start limiting user downloads and uploads. Probably by the end of the summer.

What does this mean for broadband users? It means the days of movie downloading, streaming video and audio, servers and downloading your favourite music are over. Although there is not much one user can do to stop these caps, anyone can sign an online petition at RBUA Online Petition. Although the petition may not be successful, you can call your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to complain and fight for yourself. You may call Rogers Communications at 1-888-Rogers-1 or Sympatico at 310-SURF.

There is one way around these corporate giants, simply switch your ISP. Many competitors exists around urban centers. Bob Carrick, an Ontarian broadband activist, has setup a site for broadband users suggesting alternative services for your broadband needs. You can view his list at Carrick Solutions.

Many providers in the United States are also considering download caps. Unfortunately, the Internet business is going off. @Home corporation is dead, and the industry is just not what it used to be. Money is always on the top of the list, and if it means charging users hundreds in bandwidth bills, so be it.

At the current point in time, Shaw Communications has not made any announcement to cap cable Internet users, but some say it's only a matter of time.

You can discuss these issues in our broadband forums or visit Residential Broadband Users` association for details on broadband capping. We suggest you read about the limits imposed on cable and dsl users before you run any filesharing program or commence any large downloads. If you are a Sympatico user, you may already be affected.


You can find an alternate ISP in your area by visiting Canadian ISP
For Canadian Content in Ontario,
I'm Christopher Walsh

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christopher Walsh, Editor
Email: christopher.walsh@canadiancontent.net
Opinionated? Discuss It!

 

replies to "the end ..unlimnited Internet "

Here is a posting of replies to the "end of unlimited intenet "
article. You will see some Canadian prices for broadband service.
Bless those political appointees of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ".
If you want to see humour go

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/welcome.htm

as they say " I am from the government. I am here to help you. "

Canadians respond to extra bandwidth charges

Letters Canadian specific

By INQUIRER staff: Friday 20 December 2002, 16:03


See Québec adds charges for extra GB broadband, aussi
Broadband supplier puts limits on peer-to-peer services
Howdi,

Bell Canada (and its companies) provides DSL service in many Canadian provinces, not just Quebec.

Bell is moving away from a single 'unlimited-downloads' offering at the same price for everyone. Therefore, those users that are slowly downloading the entire Internet will have to pay more in the future - sad, but perhaps only fair. The high end service also includes faster download speeds (might be 3Mbps, instead of just might be 1.3Mbps)

The good news about Bell DSL (bless their little hearts) is that their price for their basic DSL service is only 43.55 Canadian dollarettes (about US$27) per month (that's all up - including modem and all taxes). They even offer a discounted rate if you're willing to sign-up for at least twelve months.

DSL doesn't get much cheaper anywhere. And their overall service isn't bad. I'm just a satisfied customer.

Regards,

J. Harvey
Ottawa, Ontario

----> Either way, if you want to download copyrighted material (or test it out), It will cost you in the long run.

And to burn it on cdr, cdr tax is going to be up 187% in Canada. There is already a lot of tax on a cdr. Like $5 per 50 cds. + 14.5% on top of that. (standard tax)

So the government makes money on top of cd tax.

So, to download Red Hat Linux, you pay the extra 1GBs usage fees (650MB*6), + cd tax x 6 + 6 cdrs. It is cheaper to buy the cds in the store.

But luckily, the ISP doesn’t always charge you for going over the bandwidth cap.

Maybe it’s a Microsoft evil plan to destroy Linux??????

What’s next,,,, pay money to use Windows Update (good think windows updates are not 100MB each)

I see how bandwidth Cap can limit kaaza users and make them pay.

But the question is,,,,, does this money go to RIAA?

Name, email address supplied

-----> Hi

I just say your article on the bandwith limit in Québec. You're right. I'd like to add other points.

With Vidéotron, you have to check how much you have downloaded with their site on the Internet but it's a pain in the ass because it's not in real time. Recently, it took them 6 f*ing days to update my status. As it is right now, there a 2 day delay. Not quite useful when you don't want to bust and use all the bandwidth you're allowed to.

Also, Vidéotron started to charge on october 1st following the move by Bell this summer (Not very surprising since, together, they have almost the monopoly of high speed internet in Québec). Videotron has never sent us a letter to annonce this new policy (they sent an e-mail but not everyone here uses the Videotron email account). They defend themselves by saying this policy has always been in the terms and conditions (yep always been there but never enforced).

Yes, it's true but come on, the way Videotron started this is totally unfair. One month you pay 34,45$ CAN with the taxes and the next, bang, 70$ because you busted the limit you didn't even know about. They should have sent a written mail letter before implementing this new policy.

Also, some users like me have a 10$/month rebate because we apply for a year. After you have started a new year, say 2 months after, isn't so nice to learn that from now on, you're gonna have to pay if you bust the limit and that if you want to cancel your account, well you have to pay half of what's left in the year as specified in the terms and conditions.

And finally, isn't it quite a coincidence that this new policy arrives 2-3 months after the introduction of a new and faster service (Extreme high speed) which costs a lot more 59,99$/month with a 1year-engagement or 69,99/month and that the cap this time is 10 gig up and 10 gig dwl.

Lastly, since may 8th, there a strike. At the heart of the dispute is Videotron's action to hive off its installation division and its 644 technicians to an outside company, to save $15 million a year. You have to know that Videotron was sold not too long ago to a big canadian company (Quebecor) and that they paid a too high price for it....

I hope my English wasn't too bad.

Jean-Philippe Lecours
Email address supplied

----> First of all, after Bell introduced this term last June, they lost 100,000 DSL costumers. Yes, this is the real number and is unbelievable. Canada 1 year ago used to be one of the countries with the highest percentage of DSL users (this is partly due to the fact that the government was subsiding DSL connections for families). The limitations in bandwidth are more than ridiculous. You supposedly have unlimited time access but at 1.3Mbps, if une uses his line continuesly at top speed, you download with 166kb/s. This means that one can utilize his whole bandwidth for 8 hours and 45 minutes per month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that crazy or what????

You pay 44$CAN for 1.3Mbps but only for 8h45min per month! Fortunatelly there are other companies like AEI (and I urge canadians to switch to them), that apply no limits to the downloading, or other companies that have no limits as long as you are using their proxy.

Being close to the telecommunications industry myself, I find it completely ridiculous that companies set limits as long as in most WDM networks employed throughout the world only 1 or 2 wavelengths are used right now. This is like having a 64 lanes highway while you are using only a couple of them. Then the police comes and tells you that you cannot use this lane for more than a few hours per month.

I think that something has to be done about it! The situation is frustrating. The technology advances and we end up with less and less bandwidth at our homes. Maybe all canadian residents should get together and stop their internet connection for a month or so