Cable's numbers don't add up for metered billing

For an industry that's supposedly struggling to keep up with customer demand for more bandwidth, the nation's two largest cable operators seem to be doing pretty well. This week Comcast and Time Warner Cable each reported strong earnings, in spite of the fact that Time Warner has said recently that it needs a new business model to handle growing broadband demand. Comcast beat analysts' expectations and increased profits 5.4 percent to $778 million. Time Warner Cable's profits fell 32 percent, but this was mostly due to costs associated with the split from its former parent company, Time Warner. The company's revenue was actually up 5 percent to $4.4 billion when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Comcast also increased revenue by about 5.3 percent to $8.4 billion. Meanwhile, both companies reduced capital spending. Comcast cut capital expenditures by 19 percent to $1.16 billion. And Time Warner Cable cut its spending by 18 percent to $33 million. For broadband specifically, Time Warner increased revenues 11 percent to $1.1 billion. When cable operators add customers and cut capital spending on infrastructure, it doesn't seem as though they are even attempting to keep up with customer demand for more bandwidth. And the fact that they are still making profits also shows that they have the money to spend. So for consumers--who already feel they pay too much for broadband services compared to people living in other countries--Time Warner's argument that it has no choice but to meter traffic is a hard to pill to swallow, especially in this economy when so many people are financially strapped.