It’s kind of funny that my first (ever) blog post is concerning technology, considering the main reason my blog and website exist is to promote real estate (especially in Waco, since after all, I am a Realtor here). Oh by the way, if you need to buy or sell a house in Texas… call me 
I just finished reading online about the proposed usage caps that a lot broadband internet service providers are either A) going to institute as a matter of policy or B) at least considering. Time Warner Cable has already started testing a usage cap in Beaumont, TX with (currently, at it’s highest level) a paltry 40 Gigs per month. Starting Oct 1st., Comcast is mandating a new usage cap of 250 gigs per month. Comcast, a heavy player, has stated that out of their 14.4 million users, only about 1 percent will be affected by the new “usage cap” rules.
If only about 1 percent of their current customer base is putting that kind of “load” on their network, then cut them off and discontinue their service! Apparently, Comcast can discontinue those “offenders” under their current terms of service agreement, for “excessive bandwidth”.
I would imagine that network hardware/software/deployment/etc… is MUCH cheaper than it was, oh let’s say, 10 years ago. Obviously, it has to be… My broadband speed started out at 2 megs and is now rated for 15 megs with burst speeds of 27 megs.
I don’t think the cable companies have been completely up front with us over the reasons for capping internet usage. I just wonder how much the revenue that cable companies generate from pay per view, on demand, etc… is at stake here. Think about it for a second, with all the “media centers” coming onto the market like Vudu, The Netflix Player, Apple TV, etc… that has to have the cable companies taking notice and getting scared. I personally own an Apple TV, but I mainly use it for multimedia storage and less for a gateway to rent and download movies, but those machines are built for way more than what I use it for. One could only guess that the more movies you buy, rent, and download through your Appple TV, the less pay per movies you’ll purchase through your cable tv provider.
And there lies the conundrum for the cable companies, how do they “protect” the PPV revenue stream? Maybe by limiting bandwidth? Sounds viable. I kind of find it interesting that Comcast already has an excessive use clause in their terms of service, but NOW chooses define how much excessive use is (250 Gigs). By putting a number to it, maybe that would deter some folks from even buying the media center units? Possible.
I could be wrong, but I just call it like I see it. Cable companies make a lot of money off pay per view. Cable companies could possibly lose a lot of that revenue if Vudus, Netflix Players, Apple TVs became common place in the home. Cable companies have a chance to, as Barney Fife would say, “Nip it in the bud”. Let me ask you, Would you be less likely to purchase a hi-def movie (for $4.99) from Apple TV, download it to your device (and have it count toward your monthly cap), or just pay per view a flick for the same $4.99 price (and NOT have it count toward their cap)? I know which one I would do. Rent from the Redbox…. for a dollar.
