# TW to charge for usage--repeat of history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tw-to-charge-for-usage-repeat-of-history/433924 "2008-01-17T20:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tw-to-charge-for-usage-repeat-of-history/433924/21 "2008-01-18T21:42:29Z")
How much do you want to bet that light users will still pay ~90% of what they pay now? ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tw-to-charge-for-usage-repeat-of-history/433924/22 "2008-01-19T04:04:36Z")
Ah, the wonders and joys of consolidation in the cable industry. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tw-to-charge-for-usage-repeat-of-history/433924/23 "2008-01-19T05:22:52Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] What are TW’s costs if a user transfers large amounts of data during off-peak periods, using otherwise idle network capacity? Packet switches and data lines do not “wear out” with usage. [/QUOTE] The peering costs are the problem – TW pay for every byte transfered to/from the internet. Thus, the 10% of users who use 90% of the bandwidth are a huge cost for ISPs, and this is why they’re trying to get rid of them, or charge them more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tw-to-charge-for-usage-repeat-of-history/433924.md?page=1)