TechCrunch points out that Time-Warner will begin testing its metered-bandwidth business plan this week. Unfortunate new customers of Time-Warner who reside in Beaumont, TX will be forced to pay per-gigabyte for their Internet access.

Metered bandwidth plans charge customers for Internet access based on how much they use the service, and employ overage fees to punish heavy users. Currently most broadband customers in the United States enjoy unlimited access plans.

ISPs try to quell resistance by claiming that their limits only target abusers who download massive quantities of media and software. But with the rate at which Internet media is expanding, particularly video and gaming as TechCrunch notes, metered bandwidth access plans will quash innovation and directly affect everyone who uses the Internet.

ISPs such as Time-Warner and Comcast who are working on rolling out these limited access plans often enjoy monopolies on local markets — one cannot use their wallet to cast a vote against these kinds of business practices because there is no other Internet Service Provider in town.

Not only is moving in such a backwards and anti-customer manner begging for anti-trust action on the part of the federal government, but it is also setting the stage for other players looking to enter the ISP business to swoop into these markets and pick up customers in droves by offering unlimited access plans. Nobody enjoyed paying per-minute for America Online 12 years ago … and when AOL switched to an unlimited monthly plan in 1996, their subscriber base grew by 10 million within the next three years [source].