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The Daily Star (Oneonta, NY): Frontier To Limit Internet Usage

Phillip Dampier August 20, 2008 Frontier 8 Comments

Frontier to limit Internet usage

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p class=”storyheadline”>By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
The Daily Star (8/16/08)
 

Beware, downloaders: Frontier Communication Inc. plans to meter your Internet usage.

Company spokeswoman Karen Miller said Friday that the telecommunication firm plans to limit its customers’ free Internet usage to five gigabytes a month in 2009.

If you download more, you’ll pay more.

“As it stands now, five gigabytes will be free and there will be a tiered system for those who use more,” she said.

Miller said the company, which has many customers in Chenango County, is going to charge for usage “to make the heavy users pay their fair share.”

Asked if five gigabytes a month made one a “heavy user,” Miller said, “Our customers, on average, use 1.5 gigabytes a month.”

Those who use the Internet a lot are a source of concern because they force the company to spend money on its infrastructure to expand its capabilities, she said.

Frontier, a communications giant that operates in 24 states, is now notifying its customers of the coming change: Paying by the gigabyte.

One such customer is Elizabeth Ramsey of Treadwell, who has opted to drop Frontier’s DSL service in protest.

“Five gigabytes is ridiculous; it’s really a backdoor way of ending ‘Net Neutrality,”’ said Ramsey, a retired Time Warner employee.

Ramsey, who has no television, likes to use her computer to watch movies downloaded from the Internet.

“With five gigabytes, they’re limiting you to watching four two-hour movies a month,” she said. “And then, they’re going to charge you more, even though you’re already paying $88 a month for phone and Internet?”

Ramsey said she’s decided to downgrade to dial-up service and get her classic movies another way until the company relents and maintains the value of its DSL service.

The issue of limiting free Internet usage by American Internet service providers has led to the formation of consumers’ groups such as Stop The Cap, at www.Stopthecap.com, and international media coverage.

Read more…

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Mike
Mike
15 years ago

I’m canceling my Frontier DSL service next week after 3+ years. I work from home a lot, and 5GB/mo is just not enough for me to do my job. The irony here is that I’ll also be dropping my landline the DSL service comes in on, including Frontier’s Long Distance service. Without the DSL, it will just be cheaper at this point to add additional minutes to my cell plan and get Road Runner. So as of next week, Frontier will have zero business from my household, all because of this completely unreasonable cap. Frontier also partners with Dish Network… Read more »

Stephen
Stephen
15 years ago

In Rochester, I dropped Frontier after 6 years as of Tuesday. I had Road Runner and Digital Phone installed. Even though the entire change was handled by TWC, I call Frontier to be sure that the contract was cleared, service canceled, and so that ti could tell them why. The response was interesting. I called and verified that the phone and DSL were canceled, to which I was assured. I also verified that I would get a final bill from through that date. I also said that I wanted them to tell management that my decision to leave Frontier was… Read more »

James
James
15 years ago

I consider myself an average user… I play mmo’s, download legal music, email, listen to online radio, browse website, watch youtube and download the occasional ISO. And i’ve used 3.9 Gigabytes so far this month. The normal dsl user, uses the internet alot. Thats what it’s for…. I just shake my head that she made a statement like that. They don’t care or what to expand and grow the companies infrastructure. Whats next going back to two tin cans and a string? I for one will be calling it quits with frontier when my one year term is up. I’m… Read more »

Dave
Dave
15 years ago

We have received no letter. I only know about the cap because my DSL speeds have been so bad (as low as 40k, probably average around 500k, seem to be capped at 1.3m) that I went on the website to see what speeds they were advertising and saw it.

Also, they keep insisting that the 5GB is free:

“As it stands now, five gigabytes will be free and there will be a tiered system for those who use more,” she said.”

Why am I paying $49.95 a month if it is free?

rural
rural
15 years ago

““As it stands now, five gigabytes will be free and there will be a tiered system for those who use more,” she said.”

So what are the tiers? How long does it take to figure this out? Are they waiting to see how much the vocal minority complains to figure out how much more they are going to charge me, when I already pay much more than I should for what I get just because its a rural area?

Devon
Devon
15 years ago

After talking to 5 customer service reps I finally got somewhere with the last one finally speaking to a supervisor. They agreed to waive the cap for us until May 09 when our contract is up. They didn’t give us an option to opt out with out playing 250 dollars. Which is ridiculous and wouldn’t be worth canceling. I am glad we got it waived since every other rep wouldn’t even help me and didn’t even know about a cap. They are just getting information about the cap through there emails and one rep said they still need to go… Read more »

Martin
Martin
15 years ago

I am trying to get Frontier DSL because there are no other choices in our area (they haven’t physically hooked it up yet). But considering that even TV is migrating to the web, and that Frontier’s cost per gigabyte is tiny (I read about 12 cents), this is a real ripoff. Whenever there is a choice, I will take it to get away from them (like getting internet by cell phone). AT&T looks much better. They also make you wait 20 or 30 min on the phone for customer service.

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