Internet service providers cracking down on heavy users

People who watch lots of movies and videos on the Internet will run into a toll booth if they get their Internet service through AT&T.

Starting May 2, AT&T will set Internet usage caps for its DSL and U-verse customers. Repeatedly go over the cap, and you'll pay extra. Charter Communications, the other major Internet service provider in St. Louis, imposed a cap in November. But it has no plans to charge people extra when they go over the limit, says a company spokeswoman. It may cut their service instead. The Internet service providers say the limits will stop heavy users from clogging the system and slowing service to others. Consumer groups counter that the caps are ploys to keep customers from dropping pay-TV channels in favor of cheaper Internet video. Caps are arriving as customers turn to the Internet for more of their entertainment, streaming movies over services such as Netflix or Amazon, TV shows from Hulu or videos from YouTube. Increasingly, they watch them on TVs hooked to the Internet. Internet video watching rose 45 percent in the year ending in January, according to figures cited by Consumers Union. Such video streaming services pose competition to pay-TV channels offered through AT&T, Charter and other cable, satellite and phone companies.