Time Warner To Test Usage-Based Internet Pricing
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Time Warner Cable Inc., the second largest U.S. cable television company, will test new prices for its high-speed Internet service, with fees based on how much data customers download.
The new pricing will begin in Beaumont, Tex., this year, a spokesman for New York-based Time Warner Cable, Alex Dudley, said yesterday.
About 5% of subscribers to Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner Web access service account for as much as 50 percent of data usage on the network, Mr. Dudley said. The company has 7.4 million high-speed Internet customers in the U.S.
The cost structure will be like that of mobile-phone services, where clients pay according to how many minutes of usage they want, Mr. Dudley said. It will apply only to new customers, he said.
Time Warner Cable shares have fallen 40% in the past 12 months.
