The timing couldn’t be more ironic. First Netflix, and now HBO is jumping into the streaming game. HBO is testing in those high video consumption markets Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The irony, of course, is that both companies, as well as others sure to announce plans in the future, are doing so as the debate over usage-based pricing for bandwidth from ISPs and MSOs begins to really get interesting. While this certainly bodes well for ad supported video content and ISPs becoming huge suppliers of behavioral data, it is not good for the people and companies who are driving the industry forward with innovative offerings.
Should ISPs cap your daily bandwidth even though you are downloading or streaming legal content? Seems like we had this issue last year, and two years ago, but the argument then was that the majority of bandwidth was being used for pirated content. Should we all revisit our T’s&C’s for our internet access? I recall quite vividly the discussion of what constituted “heavy use” and certain ISPs reluctance to answer is.