For the second successive month, I have received a “Cox Data Usage Notification”; what does that mean? Will they slow my Internet down? Will they turn my Internet off until the next billing cycle? Either of these events will trigger a full cancellation of my Cox services, which currently amounts to $180 per month. US residents already pay considerably more for HSI than many other countries.
I recently downgraded my Internet connection from Ultimate (150Mbps) to Premier (50Mbps) because what’s the point of having 150Mbps with a 400GB monthly data cap? Not factoring in “Powerboost”, in one minute at the maximum speed of 150Mb, it’s possible to download 1.125GB of data, in one hour, it’s possible to download 67.5GB of data, in one day, that number rises to 162GB, which ultimately means that you can use your 400GB allocation of data in just 2.52 days.
Yes, that is an extreme example, but a valid one, my family can easily use 20GB each day by simply watching Netflix, Hulu, Youtube and general web use. The Internet has evolved into a media rich experience with 1080p video streaming, high quality music streaming services and high bandwidth interactive websites. Yet companies like Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon and AT&T want to hold back the evolution of the Internet with data caps while profiting by charging extortionate overages.
And what makes it even worse, in the case of the Kansas area; local government legislature is looking to block municipal Internet service providers from joining the two ISP/Cable/Telco market (Cox & AT&T) that is Kansas. Which means services like Google Fiber which offers Fiber Optic Internet at speeds of upto 1Gbps download and 1Gbps upload can not be offered in my local area.
The cable/telecommunications companies know that if Google is allowed to enter their stronghold areas, people will jump ship immediately forcing Cox/AT&T to upgrade infrastructure. Google is offering 1Gbps with no data caps whatsoever for $70 per or $120 for 120 TV channels, TV box, storage box, Nexus 7 tablet and 1Gbps Fiber Internet, Cox and AT&T should be scared! It’s cheaper to lobby (READ: pay off local government officials) than upgrade their networks and drop prices to compete.
Cox’s TV offerings is poor even within the Kansas market; Contour is unreliable, I’ve had signal issues and multiple failed DVR recordings; the Contour app for tablets doesn’t work 50% of the time and only works within your home Cox network with no sort of DVR watching ability. While Dish Network offers Slingbox functionality (DISH Anywhere); Hopper (2GB DVR), Joey (Client Box) and the ability to transfer programming from the DVR to an ‘offline’ device such as the iPad.
Given the choice of paying $200+ for 150Mbps Internet with 400GB cap and HD Cable/DVR or $120 for 120 TV channels with TV box, storage box, Nexus 7 tablet and 1Gbps download/upload uncapped Internet connection, which one would you choose? I know what I’d choose in a heartbeat!