It’s been nearly three years since Time Warner Cable dropped its much-derided plans to roll out metered broadband. Now the company thinks the time might be right to give it another go, but this time it would be an option for customers looking to save a few bucks.

TWC announced yesterday that it will be testing the new “Essentials Broadband” program in parts of Texas (San Antonio, Laredo, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley).

“Yes, we did try this before, a few years ago,” writes the company’s director of digital communications. “And yes, pretty much everyone agrees that it didn’t go so well. So we listened to customer complaints. A lot.”

So this time, rather than forcing customers into usage-based pricing, the company says that people will offer a $5/month discount for those willing to accept a 5GB/month limit on data. Overages will be charged at $1/GB with a maximum of $25/month.

Customers would have access to a “meter” to track usage.

“Ultimately, we want to give our customers that maybe use less data a price break,” writes TWC. “Heavy data users are a smaller portion of our customer base.”

Launching An Optional Usage-Based Broadband Pricing Plan In Southern Texas [TWCableUntangled via Houston Chronicle]

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