It looks like Time Warner will be testing a new system for billing their broadband internet subscribers:

Time Warner Cable will try selling consumers broadband service based on how much bandwidth they use, a move that could turn the home broadband pricing model in the U.S. on its head.

In a trial planned for later this year in Beaumont, Texas, the service provider will offer four tiers of service at different prices. Customers who used more bandwidth would pay more.

The details of the tiered pricing plan haven’t yet been set, according to Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley. The offer will only go out to new customers, he said.

While I agree there are those that abuse the system, there are also innocent people out there who may go over their limit for a month. Take the month of December when children and a lot of parents are home on vacation. Internet surfing rises. So everyone gets into YouTube during those few weeks and that pushes them over their quota.

Basically this is a step backwards in our online world. We are moving back towards the times when AOL was the big provider and they limited your number of hours per month. I wish these internet companies would follow the model of most European countries where you get better speed based upon the package you select. I am sure the big downloaders would pay extra for less wait.