TECHNOLOGY: Massa submits internet cap bill

By Jeremy Moule on June 17, 2009

In April Time Warner temporarily shelved its plans to charge broadband internet subscribers based on usage, but Congress member Eric Massa is still moving forward with legislation to address the issue.

Today, Massa rolled out legislation - H.R. 2902 - that would require internet service providers with more than 2 million subscribers to submit plans for usage-based rates to the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission. The bill would prohibit any usage-based plan that the FTC determines would impose "unreasonable or discriminatory" rates, terms, and conditions, Massa says. It also establishes public hearings for plans submitted to the FTC.

When Time Warner backpedaled on plans to test a tiered, usage-based rate system for its Rochester high-speed internet customers earlier this year, CEO Glenn Britt made it clear the company hadn't abandoned the idea altogether. "While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process," Britt said in a prepared statement.