Talk about bad timing. Apple just announced it will offer downloaded movie rentals (including high-def) over the Internet. Netflix is working on a set-top box to do the same thing, and Microsoft has been ramping up its downloadable movie offerings over Xbox Live.
Now, one cable company is starting to push back at excessive bandwidth usage caused mainly by video downloading. After an internal memo was leaked, Time Warner Cable confirmed it's planning a trial in Beaumont, Tex., in which it will charge Internet subscribers based on usage. (Time Warner's shares closed down 22 cents to $22.35 Friday.)
It's a tricky situation for Time Warner and other cable companies. Customers generally pay a flat rate for Internet (about $50 a month in my case), but a small minority are basically torrenting HD movies like crazy and sucking up a bunch of bandwidth. According to the leaked memo, 5% of subscribers were using up half of the total bandwidth.
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