Time Warner to experiment with tiered Internet pricing

New York (NY) - Time Warner Internet customers who download a ton of material may find themselves paying more money later this year.

Time Warner Cable, the second biggest provider in the country, said it will start a new payment scheme in Beaumont, Texas, where users will need to choose a specific tier based on how much content they download per month.

This would replace the current industry standard of charging one flat rate for unlimited data access. Time Warner says it wants to improve performance by creating a barrier for super heavy downloaders.

The cable provider says that the top 5% of downloaders account for 50% of all bandwidth capacity.

Company spokesperson Alex Dudley said it would begin the trial in the second quarter of 2008, and would only apply to new customers. Existing customers will be able to hold on to their current no-limit plan.