That’s because he was also using Time Warner Cable’s modem for the company’s voice service, and the company required him to hang onto it just to continue using that service — no commercially available modems support it. A customer service representative told Mr. Arana-Wolfe that he would have to connect his purchased modem to Time Warner’s modem; his modem would provide the Internet service, and Time Warner Cable’s would just do voice.
But even though Time Warner’s modem would still be hooked up in his home, he would not have to pay the rental fee. The fee only applies to customers who are using their modems for Internet service.
In a statement last week, Time Warner Cable justified the rental fee by saying it was necessary to cover the cost of repairing and replacing cable modems over time. Why would Internet customers have to pay a rental fee to use a modem, but not voice customers? Or does this quirk confirm the suspicions of some Time Warner Cable customers that the fee is simply a price increase in disguise?
Justin Venech, director of public relations at Time Warner Cable, acknowledged the disconnect between the company’s explanation of the fee and the inconsistent billing methods.
When asked whether the decision to charge a rental fee for Internet use but not voice service contradicted his previous statement about the reason for the fee, Mr. Venech responded, “It does. But the way we have decided to charge this fee is, we’re charging it for use of the Internet portion of the modem.”
“It’s a business decision,” Mr. Venech added. “It’s a matter of starting to treat this equipment the same way we treat our other equipment.”
But why treat the same equipment differently for voice and Internet customers? Mr. Venech repeated that the company’s business decision was to charge for using the modem for the Internet, not voice.
That’s essentially the same response that Mr. Arana-Wolfe got from Time Warner Cable’s customer service representative when he asked the same question. He added that when the employee put his call on hold to transfer him to a supervisor, she forgot to hit the mute button: “She was discussing our conversation with a co-worker and said that they have to come up with something better, because ‘He has a valid point.'”
Mr. Arana-Wolfe said he was considering starting a class-action lawsuit related to the modem fee. In the meantime, he said, he was researching other options for Internet and voice service, like Verizon’s.