If You Are Streaming Video, You Can't Cap Your Rivals

[Commentary] Time Warner Cable (TWC) recently announced that its cable TV subscribers can download an app onto their Xbox360 consoles. The app gives them access to a wide range of cable content through their Xbox360. But for the fact that Time Warner Cable also imposes data caps on its subscribers, this would be fantastic news.

It is great to see companies like Time Warner Cable (TWC) trying out new things. And we have pushed the FCC for years to update its rules to make it easier for all cable subscribers (and, for that matter, all other pay TV subscribers) to access the content they pay for on the devices of their choosing. So why can't we celebrate TWC's announcement? Because as the internet offers more ways for competitors to reach consumers, the way that cable companies treat the internet begins to matter more. One way to see this will be on the Xbox dashboards of TWC customers who download the TWC app. Remember, those Xboxes don't have cable inputs in the back – customers attach them to their home routers. Next to the TWC app may be a number of other apps – Netflix, Amazon, Crackle, and more. One one level, all of those apps are the same. They offer the customer a way to watch video through their Xboxes on their TV. But on another level, they are very different. All of those apps, with the exception of TWC's, will count against the customer's data cap. That's a significant advantage for TWC.