1. It was easy to keep track of my usage so I don't get a surprise at the end of the month. My cell phone's internet connection is metered, but there is no way for me to see how much I have used. I don't use it very much because I just don't trust them.
2. There must be a way to limit automatic upgrades in case something screws up. If I download too much I would rather be shut off at a certain point instead of getting a $1000 bill at the end of the month.
Although TW talks about people using their internet to pirate CDs and DVDs, I believe that they are really trying to cut off usage of VOIP phones and legal movie downloads from Netflix. They want the incremental bandwidth cost of downloading a Netflix movie to be about the same as the Time Warner pay per view price, thus you'll be driven back to using Time Warner for movies instead of just as an ISP.
Metered internet would only work if there was a very, very low base rate. Around here, the minimum internet package with Time Warner is $55 per month. Maybe a $10 base rate with one gig transfer included per month.
If heavy users have to pay more, light users should pay far less. With metered rates, everyone should have access to the highest speed service as well.
... but the bandwidth caps are really about shutting down competition with online video sources. Why should people buy video through TW’s overpriced cable operations when they can get it free or cheap online?