Time Warner’s bandwidth capping experiment covers more than just metro Rochester, according to an article in The Batavian published this week:

We just received this message from Lara Pritchard, public affairs manager for Time Warner Cable, WNY Division:

Our trial for monitoring internet usage will rollout across our entire Rochester footprint. Batavia customers will also be enrolled to work with us and provide feedback on their usage/plans.

Time Warner’s Rochester division has several cable systems associated with it, several acquired originally from other providers years ago.  Batavia is part of Time Warner’s “Genesee & Wyoming (Counties)” system and will be part of the usage cap experiment.  Batavia is a small city of approximately 16,000 just about halfway between the New York cities of Buffalo and Rochester.  It is the heart of Genesee county.

Batavia residents are within Verizon territory, but Verizon FiOS is not yet available in the area.  It is expected to arrive “soon” according to flyers seen around the area.  Verizon FiOS is the only high speed competitor that can provide similar speeds to Time Warner’s Road Runner service.  Verizon offers a DSL service in Batavia and surrounding areas, but at somewhat slower speeds, and usually requires a contract commitment.  Clearwire is not available in Batavia according to the company website.

Batavia residents were unimpressed to learn they were also included in the trial, something many were unaware of:

Richard wrote: “If TW goes ahead with this I think that they will lose a lot of customers and I will be sure to do my part to make that so.  I have seen that FiOS is coming to Batavia and I think that it should help with TW price gouging…. I do find it fascinating that they are only doing this “experiment” in places that there are no other providers for most people.”

Karen writes: “What ways will Time Warner think of next to soak the consumer. Their rates for service have gone up and up a number of times since first we let them monopolize Genesee County. Now our freedom to surf the internet, and the duration of time has a price tag too?  In my opinion, Time Warner sees nothing but $$$$$$$ and they need to be stopped.”

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will be in Rochester Thursday afternoon to help add his voice to the growing opposition to Time Warner’s bandwidth usage caps.  StoptheCap! has been working with the senator’s office throughout the day today to help coordinate the visit, which will take place in Irondequoit at the home of just one resident who will be directly impacted by Time Warner’s plans.

Time Warner’s bandwidth cap experiment coming just a few months after the company’s last rate increase would dramatically hurt many local residents already reeling from a poor economy.  Time Warner is seriously suggesting that consumers now paying $39.95 per month for broadband service should now be faced with the prospect of paying three times as much, $150 per month, for an equivalent level of service.

Senator Schumer said he doesn’t want Rochester used as a guinea pig for Time Warner, and intends to do all in his power to put a stop to it.

StoptheCap! is delighted to be working with Senator Schumer, who has a long track record of advocating for consumers and standing up for the residents of New York State.

Senator Schumer’s strong voice will be heard across the country, as well as Washington, and will send a clear message that consumers in New York, as well as other states where Time Warner is forcing residents to participate in its “tests,” will not stand idly by and allow Internet plans offering paltry tiers at top dollar pricing to simply pass without the strongest possible protest.

What starts in Beaumont, San Antonio, Austin, Rochester, and the Triad of North Carolina will either be stopped by consumers who reject these egregious bandwidth caps, or Time Warner customers nationwide will almost certainly find them coming to their homes in the future.

StoptheCap! will, of course, have full coverage of the senator’s visit, and will remain in close contact with his office in the days ahead.

In June 2008, Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley was interviewed for Gigaom, an online publication.  In that interview, he stated that the bandwidth capping trials in Beaumont, Texas were just an experiment and if consumers don’t want it, the company will back away from it.

“You need to understand that the networks are going to be managed and we need to make profit,” he said. “We are trying to find a balance here, and it is too soon to say that we are throwing baby out of the bathwater.”

Dudley was, however, quick to point out that TWC’s experiment in Texas was just that – a test. If consumers don’t want it, the company is going to back away from it. “I think this is a trial and we are going to learn from this trial,” he said.

We honestly don’t know what else Mr. Dudley needs to hear to understand consumers don’t want it.  The company has now attracted a firestorm of negative publicity, the attention of one area congressman, a United States senator, and will almost certainly get an earful when town supervisors from across the county have a chance to weigh in this Friday.  Mr. Dudley, consumers don’t want it. We are not interested in, or appeased by, increases in the caps.  We do not want caps, period.  No consumer should ever have to worry whether or not they will face punitive overlimit fees from a product that Time Warner’s own financial results from 2008 stated, quite plainly, was highly profitable and increasingly so as bandwidth costs continue to decline.

We encourage Time Warner to end its “experiment” today for the good of its customers.  There is still time to forgive and forget.  But time is running out.

WHEC-TV tried to explain what a gigabyte is to the average consumer, using small squares that remind me of those AT&T “milky minutes.”  Only Time Warner gigabyte allowances never roll over.  In fact, the only thing Time Warner wants to roll over is YOU.

Reporter Ray Levato gives it his best shot, and does generally well with his analogies (although everyone has different numbers about what equals a gigabyte), but things rapidly derail when he tries to explain Time Warner isn’t a monopoly in Rochester.

People in our area can get their Internet service from companies like Frontier, Comcast and Clearwire.

Comcast?  Don’t think so.  Not in metropolitan Rochester.  There might be a scattering of Comcast systems in some of the rural communities far away from the city, but you can be assured Time Warner doesn’t compete in those areas.  Frontier and Clearwire are options, but not for everyone.  Frontier DSL has limited availability in many rural communities outside of the city and adjacent suburbs, and Clearwire service is extremely limited outside of the city itself and a few nearby towns.  There are numerous Time Warner customers who have just three other options: outrageously priced satellite Internet, dial-up, or go without.

The report seems to suggest that consumers’ hatred of this plan is somehow now alleviated by Time Warner’s second plan, which I’ve yet to hear anyone suggest is an improvement worth discussing. The train comes completely off the tracks by the time Time Warner’s guy shows up.  I am certain he has heard from customers.  But I am also certain the overwhelming majority of them want to leave things just the way they are, profitable for Time Warner, rationally priced and worry-free for customers.  Then, short shrift is given to Rochester’s deaf community: “not a problem,” according to this report anyway.  That’s not what my e-mail inbox says.

By the way, since I couldn’t find their promised list of alternative providers on their website, here’s ours.

This was a tougher call, because some facts were wrong, and nobody seemed willing to challenge anyone else’s assertions, but it gave equal time to ordinary consumers who hate caps, a reporter willing to try and explain what the heck a ‘gigabyte’ is to the average person who has no idea, and Time Warner’s position on the matter.  A good newscast report will let the viewer decide.  I suspect most already have, but you still have to give them the chance.

We are becoming overloaded with traffic again, and the server went down briefly around 5:00pm this afternoon. The growth here continues to simply explode beyond our wildest dreams, and your activism and interest on this issue is exactly what we need to fight back! We will be exploring expanding our server yet again for the second time in two weeks to handle all of our new and returning friends.

There should be some exciting developments tomorrow afternoon on this issue (no, TW has not changed their mind, but they are about to get another major headache.)  As I told my skeptical friend out in Buffalo last Sunday, and I know he’s reading this, “I’m sure the impact we are making is less than I might hope, but more than you think.”  I think I’m right.

Later this evening, I am going to try and overhaul the comment software to finally allow you to edit comments after they get posted. I am also exploring creating a list of article titles on the home page to allow our new visitors to find articles that have long since left the first page.

Thanks for all your great news tips and comments. I will be covering the FCC angle very shortly. For our North Carolina friends, a question. I have been told I have been too narrow on this issue by focusing on Greensboro. Would you prefer I change my reference to TW down there to encompass the entire Triad region? I don’t want us to miss anyone who might be impacted by this issue. Leave your comments. I read ’em all!

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StoptheCap! is in the fight against broadband usage caps, no matter where they are or what company tries to slap them on their customers.  Read up. Ask questions. Get involved. Join the fight!