Comcast Corp. president Neil Smit said the cable giant has no plans to start charging broadband subscribers by their level of bandwidth consumption, a model that recently received the blessing of
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. Usage-based billing for broadband service, which enables providers to charge heavy bandwidth users more than subscribers who use less, is
viewed as a potential hedge for cable companies who may lose subscribers.
Online video and other rich media content on the Web uses far more bandwidth than more traditional Web
content, like email. As video content proliferates online, broadband network owners could face traffic issues and higher costs, and companies could also adopt usage-based billing to replace lost
revenue from traditional video services.
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