Top cable companies try reining in heavy web use

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top U.S. cable operators Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc will begin testing ways this week to limit individual subscribers who use the largest amount of Internet capacity in an effort to protect their high-speed networks.

The moves are a response to government inquiries as well as the heavy costs of upgrading existing broadband infrastructure due to the explosion of downloading and watching music and videos.

Such usage is "taxing the infrastructure," a Time Warner Cable spokesman said. "In order to make investments in the infrastructure, we have to find the revenue to pay for it."

Some technology blogs have criticized the new pricing structure and usage limits, which they said would curtail interest in viewing videos online and enrage consumers who currently pay for unlimited service.

Time Warner Cable said it will launch a service on Thursday that charges new consumers of high-speed Internet service based on their usage. Broadband subscribers in Beaumont, Texas, will be charged $1 per gigabyte above monthly allowances, a company spokesman said.

Separately, Comcast said it has changed the way it will manage network traffic and begin a test to slow the transfer of files to individual subscribers who are its heaviest users during congested periods.

The tests will begin Thursday in the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia areas.

Time Warner Cable's new policy is intended to address its top 5 percent of users, who have spent a "disproportionate" amount of time on the company's network, the spokesman said.