AT&T’s Internet Meter Running in Reno

AT&T Inc. (T) has confirmed that it quietly began an Internet bandwidth metering trial in Reno, Nev., possibly setting the stage for the eventual creation of pay-extra service tiers beyond what consumers pay for monthly web access today.

AT&T is conducting the market trial “to evaluate a usage-based model that could potentially help address today’s trend of explosive bandwidth usage,” according to the carrier. The trial may be extended to one other market by the end of the year.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2008, new AT&T High Speed Internet customers in Reno started receiving a bandwidth usage amount ranging from between 20 gigabytes to 150 gigabytes, depending on their broadband speed tier.

This is akin to the Time Warner Cable bandwidth metering trial which began months ago, and was limited to new customers. Adding current customers had not been decided on when the effort began.

Later this year, AT&T says its current high-speed Internet customers in Reno will become a part of this trial if their monthly usage exceeds 150 gigabytes in one month. These customers will receive a usage amount of 150 gigabytes per month.

“Once they're a part of the trial, customers will receive a one-month grace period the first time usage is exceeded,” the carrier explained. “Thereafter, customers will be charged $1 for every gigabyte over their determined usage amount.”

To help customers gauge their usage, AT&T says all customers in the trial will receive a bandwidth measuring tool. The carrier claims it will let all impacted customers know about the trial specifics at least 60 days ahead of any overage charges. The carrier will go a step farther by proactively letting customers know each time they reach 80 percent of their usage amount. “We will not terminate service due to customer usage,” said AT&T.

That’s in contrast to the Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), usage cap approach, which initially threatened to drop customers who exceeded their 250 gigabyte a month usage cap twice in a truncated period. That was outlined in the cableco’s Internet acceptable use policy.

AT&T execs had already strongly hinted that some type of usage-based model, “for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns, seemed inevitable.”

Like other ISPs, AT&T claims a small group of customers are using the majority of bandwidth on its network. In fact, the carrier said almost 50 percent of total bandwidth is used by just five percent of customers.

AT&T claims it doesn’t want the rest of Internet users, the vast majority, to be adversely impacted.

“This trial will help us evaluate ways of dealing with surging usage trends while continuing to meet customer needs for a high quality broadband experience at an affordable price,” said AT&T.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines