Mark Evans points out that Time Warner is being smart, not greedy with their plans for tiered broadband service and now that I think about it, I think he is right. As the broadband market stands today, every customer pays an equal amount for an equal share of resources. The problem is that not every customer uses or needs all of the resources alloted to them.

Time Warner plans to offer packages that would range from 5GB to 40GB of downloads per month. The high-end package would likely be equivalent to their top plan today - $50-$60 per month. I would suggest that they continue to offer a plan like today’s offering — buffet-style, allowing the customer to download as much as they can. I feel that I could get away with a 40GB plan, but my parents wouldn’t need more than a 5GB plan. Today’s system has low utilization users subsidizing the high utilization users and that just doesn’t make sense.

The key to this tiered service plan is going to be customer education and providing information. Time Warner needs to ensure that customers understand what they are getting in to with lower tier plans. They also need to provide customers with the tools to see where they stand in terms of usage in a month.