Monitor Your Internet Bill for Increases
I came across an article written today that talked about how internet providers are planning to charge you based on the amount of bandwidth you use. It’s nothing new for providers to have pricing tiers based on speed, especially the new Verizon FIOS plans. However, this is the first I have heard of tiers based on usage. The article focuses on bandwidth levels of 5 Gigabytes and 40 GB’s. To me it seems pretty easy to exceed the 5 GB limit. The breakout of 5GB’s of data is listed below:
5-gigabyte plan:
- 350,000 e-mails.
- 2,800 digital photos.
- 170 hours of online gaming.
- 1,400 digital songs.
- 15 hours of standard-definition digital video.
- Two standard-definition movies.
- One high-definition movie.
It is to be known that this is 5 GB’s of EACH type of bandwidth, not a combination of this bunch. I could see hitting 2800 digital photos easily in a month based on viewing Myspace or Facebook photo albums. And if you’re a World of Warcraft player than you hit the 5 GB cap probably mid month! And all of that is without any other normal internet useage like web browsing and emails.
Going forward I think we should all keep our eyes on our internet bill when it comes. The article makes it seem that these changes are imminent, not just being talked about. I suggest waiting for these plans to arrive and immediately choosing the lowest plan. Most likely you will exceed it and be charged overage. Simply call your provider and I’m willing to bet that they’ll waive the fees for at least the first couple of months. They will waive a lot of fees if you just ask, I havent paid for my cable box in years. But after at least a few months you should know what plan will best fit your usage habits. Then, of course, price out the lowest competition in your area.