Sunday
Jun082008
Fox News Overflow Thoughts
Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 05:23PM
I was on Fox News this afternoon talking about cable providers' new plans to charge for broadband on a per-usage basis. You can find the video of the segment here. I am used to short news segments but this one was even shorter than I had anticipated. A few points that I wanted to make but didn't get to:
Unfortunately I did not get a chance to articulate these notes but time is of the essence in broadcast news. Hopefully the cable companies will ditch this billing scheme soon enough that it won't matter.
- Even though this could ultimately lead to cheaper broadband bills, it will still confound consumers who will be weary of spending time online if they think they'll surpass their broadband allotment;
- John Donovan, CEO of AT&T has admitted that such measures may not even be necessary since most users self-adjust their habits to take advantage of off-peak times;
- The problem with this type of plan is that most customers don't know the metric of broadband they use, much less how to monitor it. This could result in some high bills and angry customers;
- Another problem is that we have so many devices that pull Wi-Fi off of our home network now that we could be using broadband, running up our bill, without even knowing it. For instance: a game console, a Wi-Fi enabled cell phone, a tablet computer, etc.
- One unintended consequence of plans like these are that they could discourage customers from watching TV and video online.
- Comcast is going to test an alternative, which I find much more compelling. It involves slowing the transfer of files to individual subscribers who are its heaviest users during congested period.
Unfortunately I did not get a chance to articulate these notes but time is of the essence in broadcast news. Hopefully the cable companies will ditch this billing scheme soon enough that it won't matter.
Reader Comments (21)
"The problem with this type of plan is that most customers don’t know the metric of broadband they use, much less how to monitor it. This could result in some high bills and angry customers;"
how do i monitor my electric or gas usage?
I just don't get it. If I need more speed I pay for more speed. It seems simple to me. But maybe I'm just being simple.
Wow, that was short. Still, you did a great job. :)
Wow, that video was unbelievably short. You could easily take up half an hour on this subject alone.
This is the reason I've been disenchanted with mainstream news for years now. There's never anytime to say anything let alone have a real discussion. Their ad model ruins the supposed actual content. Argghhh!
@allen stern: you have a meter in front of your house for that stuff, don't you?
I don't see the costs of broadband coming down for the subscriber. I think the providers are trying to get more dollars per subscriber. You see the trend to add more and more premium services. The services are bundled in a package at a discount if you go with the full package. (Voice, internet, TV) Some examples of premium services would be some sort of software, online backup, Movies on demand and online games.
Great job with the interview. Very professional and authoritative. It is good to see Internet broadcasters getting recognition in the mainstream media. I don't watch Fox News, but get Loaded each morning. Thank you.
As an employee of one of the Cable Co.'s mentioned, I believe it is a big mistake to penalize all for minority. Comcast has a good approach as long as they are open with the subscriber as to where they stand with their monthly "quota".
Verizon FiOS is by far in the best position here as they allow you to pay for your speeed leve, they give it to you...no questions asked.... Novel idea!
Sounds like "par for the course" down under and has been like that for years. You would not believe some of the "limits" that are placed on usage. Positively draconian.
Hope for you sakes it does not become the "norm", but I can see that some providers will want to "make it so"
Wow talk about short interview. 1 min 41 second video and some of that was the anchor blabbering on. You still did a really good job with the short amount of time that you were given. I think it is an interesting idea. I think it would be helpful if they are going to start implementing this to basically take 3 months of "tracking" data about customers and then let the customers know what their average usage was during those months and make recommendations based off that usage. Keep up the great work Natali.
You used big words for a Fox broadcast. They were probably scrambling to look up definitions to make sure you weren't swearing and pulled the plug. :)
Would it be so onerous to expect that the telco will provide a meter of your internet usage to date, either online or over the phone? Sprint provides real-time data usage online for my cell phone. Certainly for the same price, I'd rather have unlimited internet, but if I could reduce my bill with a plan that gives me plenty of headroom, why not? As it is, with everyone paying the same price for unlimited, I'm subsidizing the price for anyone who uses more data than me. I'd love that situation if I were a high bandwidth user. With 3 PCs and an xbox 360, I use a lot, but I doubt I'm on par with the bit torrent users out there. I won't dismiss the idea of metered bandwidth until I see pricing and have a sense of my own usage (which I don't have).
I don't always trust Fox News. They seem to only ask leading questions so that they get you to say what they want you to say to support their own agenda. When they couldn't do that they cut the interview short.
I'm curious as how those things are set up. Who contacts whom first? Does Fox call CNET or the other way around?
I agree with all your points and frankly do not subscribe to this format of service providing. I find it's a little rediculous...a set price would be better. They are just trying to gain loop holes in usage that will give them the opportunity to make a few cents and dollars here and there that will be insurmountable when the entire population jumps on board.
One other point I would have added(to your comment about ALL devices that are Wi-Fi will add to this bleeding wallet issue) is that a lot of people don't know how or have not bothered to lock down their wireless routers, thus letting whomever leech net access from where ever whenever...Most savvy users would secure their connection, but mom and dad, grandma and grandpa probably don't know about it and will end up paying through the nose even though they have NO clue about someone suckling off their Net 'teat'.
But then again up here in Canada, we have our own fish to fry with throttling and the giant corps that are trying to control everything...what a stupid mess. What is wrong with people and their greed?
One point I don't see - they provide cable, internet and voip phone. That penalizes those of us who use their service but don't use their equipment.
I download quite a bit on my Tivo so they would be penalizing me for downloading video to that but not if I use their equipment.
I live in the area they are testing, use their internet service and hope this idea goes away...
Natali, I think you did a great job with the amount of time the Fox News Network gave you explaining the new way the Internet Service Providers are experimenting on ways they can charge the consumer. I really think that even in the short amount of time you were given to elaborate on this matter was short, sweet and to the point for the masses who are not in the technology industry. Don't kick yourself over the information that you were unable to say in your video, It's understandable that the News Networks need to make more time for the story's about violence going on in the streets and the marathon of advertisements that never seem to end.
"One unintended consequence of plans like these are that they could discourage customers from watching TV and video online."
That's why they're doing it. They want people to watch their cable TV (and ads) and not watch TV and movies online.
"Comcast is going to test an alternative, which I find much more compelling. It involves slowing the transfer of files to individual subscribers who are its heaviest users during congested period."
I like the idea but the problem with this is how do they define "heaviest users"? Are the "heaviest users" the P2P folks who suck up all the bandwidth trading illegal copyrighted material? Are they the folks watching Hulu or [legally] downloading movies from Netflix, thus taking away from cable TV's ad revenue? Or are the "heaviest users", as defined by Time Warner Cable in Texas, those who download more than 5 GB/month?
Hi,
I Live in the Isle of Man (United Kingdom)
I am absoulutely disgusted with Fox News.
They allow themselves to be controlled by Rupert Murdoch's BSKYB Organisation.
The channel is blocked unless you pay for it.
I believe Fox News is totally corrupt and should face Court Charges for stealing from the People of the UK.
Fox News also runs a Baby Channel and Charges the parents of New Born Babies in order to watch it.
We cannot watch these channels unless we pay a minimum of £216 ($428) per year.
I have written to the 8 times and only once got a comment (They said "we cannot comment on what BSKYB Charges and ended the letter thank you for watching Fox News")
I wrote back to them and said "You are missing the point, i cannot watch Fox News unless i pay £216 British Pounds ($428 dollars) per year) I told them "They were breaking international law by charging for a news channel" I never received a reply.
I wrote to the Fox Baby Channel who are based in London and they won't comment.
CNN used to charge for their news channel but at least they put things right by screening it free.
Fox News is totally corrupt and should be exposed for this so called legal robbery.
They wouldn't get away with this in the United States of America.
Regards,
Michael
I'm so crazy on Natali, she has amazing smile. So I watch CNET loaded everyday.
Reduce Usage Gas...
I couldn't understand some parts of this article, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting....