The Cost of Downloading All Those Videos

In an article in today’s New York Times, I wrote about the controversy over the now-abandoned plan by Time Warner Cable to impose additional fees on customers who upload and download more than a set quota.AT&T continues to test a similar plan, and many cable and phone company executives still argue that usage is growing so fast, mainly driven by video that they need to start charging heavy users to cover the additional cost of the bandwidth they consume.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/the-cost-of-downloading-all-those-videos/As Costs Fall, Companies Push to Raise Internet Price
Internet service providers want to end the all-you-can-eat plans and get their customers paying à la carte.But they are having a hard time closing the buffet line.Faced with rising consumer protest and calls from members of Congress for new regulations, Time Warner Cable backed down last week from a plan to impose new fees on heavy users of its Road Runner Internet service.The debate over the price of Internet use is far from over. Critics say cable and phone companies are already charging far more than Internet providers in other countries. Some also wonder whether the new price plans are meant to prevent online video sites from cutting into the lucrative revenue from cable TV service.
http://nytimes.com/2009/04/20/business/20isp.html