The first real step
toward tiered broadband

Yesterday Time Warner announced plans to test a pay-per-download pricing system based on how much data broadband users download per month.

The model will serve in lieu of a fixed-fee unlimited monthly service for select broadband users.

"Ninety-five percent of our users would not be the extreme users who are driving this," said Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley.

The model, if successful, may stymy government intervention on net neutrality. AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have tried throttling service for users that absorb significant amounts of bandwidth (presumably by engaging in illegal downloading), to negative public response.

Customers new to Time Warner's broadband service will be provided four plans of different download sets: 5, 10, 20 or 40 gigabytes. Overages will cost extra. Prices per tier have not been determined, but testing amongst new subscribers will begin in Beaumont, TX later this year.

"It's entirely fair and appropriate for carriers […] to vary their charges to users based on how much [users consume]," said David Sohn of the Center for Democracy & Technology, reports MediaPost.

"The key is to be agnostic as to what the bandwidth is being used for."

Time Warner is the parent company of AOL.