"This is not a rate increase."

When you say something on those series of tubes we call the Internet, sometimes it’s awfully hard to get those statements back, thanks to the magic of Google caching.  Carrie, one of our great readers from Texas, clued us in on a tweet from Omar Gallaga at the Austin American Statesman, who noted a copy of a Google cached Time Warner corporate website page that said more than was perhaps intended.

It appears one section was cut out in the final release, but with the miracle of Google caching, it all comes back to life.  More and more, this reminds me of the bizarro world thinking Frontier was doing last summer, until they got smart.  Maybe it’s something going around.

Answers to Your Questions

Will my bill go up?

This is not a rate increase. Rather, it gives each level of Road Runner service a generous amount to use each month but, if of someone goes over the monthly usage allocation, they have to pay a slight fee. That’s the only way your bill would change.

How will this impact my Price Lock Guarantee?

The plan will not impact your Price Lock Guarantee price, but it could mean a small incremental fee that will vary by month depending on how much you exceed the megabit usage that goes with your level of Road Runner service.

How can I know if the plan is fair?

Time Warner Cable simply wants to make sure only those who use large amounts of data either upgrade to a level better for them or pay for incremental amounts they choose to have each month. This ensures others don’t have to pay for or subsidize those heavier users.

Why do I have to pay more for Road Runner?

You won’t be paying more if you are like the average user. These new fees will only be charged to the small group of heavy users that the rest of RR customers are effectively subsidizing.

Well, well, well.  I can see why the language was pulled here.  It’s utter fiction. “A slight fee” amounts up to $75 in overages each month, the bandwidth they are providing is generous if you were accessing the Internet from Zimbabwe, and from Time Warner’s own statements to the SEC, nobody is subsidizing anything – profits are up in the broadband division, as bandwidth costs decline.

But the most important part of this is the bit about throwing Price Lock Guarantee customers under the bus. Price lock contracts are available in some markets, mostly in Texas.  They are not part of service in Rochester. A “small incremental fee?”  Like the “slight fee” of up to $75 a month in overages?  Because these statements are no longer part of the “official release,” we’re not about to say this is what is coming, but it does shine light on the kind of thinking that seems to be at work here.  Doesn’t a Price Lock Guarantee mean… you know, a guaranteed price lock — your rate stays the same.   Why anyone would even draft something saying otherwise is beyond me.

The smartest thing Time Warner could do is pull this entire disaster altogether, and get back in the business of providing affordable Internet access to customers without gotchas, caps, and overage fees.