The Wall Street Journal reports that ISPs are looking at metered internet connections in response to calls for net neutrality.

"This could come down to carriers saying, ‘If you don’t allow us to manage our networks the way we see fit, then we will just have to cap everything,’ " says Phillip Dampier, a consumer advocate focusing on technology issues in Rochester, N.Y. "They’ll make it an either/or thing: give them more control over their network or expect metered broadband."

Dampier helped force the end of Time Warner Cable’s metered internet rollout last year. But that’s not stopping other ISPs, such as AT&T, which is testing tiered internet services in Texas. $19.95 per month buys you 0.8 megabits a second with a 20 gigabyte download cap. For $65, you can get 150 gigabytes at 18 megabits a second.

Verizon is also considering tiered internet packages.

Some broadband providers argue that a pay-as-you-go Internet is unavoidable. "A flat-rate, infinitely expandable service is unachievable,"Dick Lynch, chief technology officer of Verizon Communications Inc., said at a recent industry conference, referring to the industry in general. "We’re going to have to consider pricing structures that allow us to sell packages of bytes."

Some would argue that it’s well within the rights of ISPs to do this, and it offers a pricing advantage for casual users. However, in my view, if this is allowed, it will be the same as a non-neutral internet, for a couple of reasons.

1. Connection speed, which is how internet connections are currently tiered, are already an effective bandwidth cap. This is just an additional restriction.
2. It still serves the ISPs purpose of hindering online video and telephone services.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.