Web-based video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others have one important thing in common – they aren’t associated with cable companies. Many people (myself included) have decided to cancel cable service in favor of internet video consumption and over-the-air broadcasts. As subscribers for cable services decrease, cable companies are trying to figure out a way to make up for all that lost revenue. One solution may be to charge customers based on how much internet bandwidth they use in a billing cycle.

Cox Communications has announced that it will launch its 3G wireless network in March. Initially it will use Sprint’s infrastructure but will eventually run on Cox’s own. It will be available in three markets to begin with and eventually expand. Users in Orange County, California, Omaha, Nebraska and Hampton Roads, Virginia will be able to more »

Cox Communications is introducing a new bandwidth management policy that is sure to have many of its users up in arms. The cable and internet provider says it will begin ranking the importance of different kinds of internet use and then limit the bandwidth to those activities they consider low priority whenever they feel their network is too congested.

Cox’s list of low priority traffic includes FTP, peer to peer networking, software updates (including those regular Microsoft updates), and Usenet. Users doing any of those things will experience noticeably slower connections when Cox decides their network needs “congestion management.”