Here’s another industry that is bloated and worthless, thanks to the political class. As expensive as things can be here in Europe, people choke when they hear how much Americans pay for internet/cable/phone services. At home in Paris, our fiber optic 100MB connection also includes free phone calls to 100 countries around the world, plus 140 TV channels for €33.90 per month (around US$45). No limits. Other countries in Europe have faster speeds and better prices.

For Time Warner or any of the US operators to even consider raising fees because people are opting for Netflix is laughable. How about they start providing first world services like people have across Europe (and parts of not-first-world Asia) before they start adding caps and increasing prices? While Obama didn’t really say that Americans were lazy, our cable companies sure are. And they only get away with it because of the money they dump into the political world (and the fact that Americans have no idea how much people “don’t” pay for the same services, if not better, in Europe). Bloomberg:

Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and U.S. pay- TV companies, weighing how to profit from surging Internet demand spurred by Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Hulu, are on the verge of instituting new fees on Web-access customers who use the most. At least one major cable operator will institute so-called usage-based billing next year, predicts Craig Moffett, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. He said Cox Communications Inc., Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) or Time Warner Cable may be first to charge Web-access customers for the amount of data they consume, not just transmission speed. “As more video shifts to the Web, the cable operators will inevitably align their pricing models,” Moffett said in an interview. “With the right usage-based pricing plan, they can embrace the transition instead of resisting it.”

For those interested in the subject, here’s a great read about the myth of the “network hog” and how it’s nothing more than an excuse to raise rates. The real problem is lousy networks.

NOTE FROM JOHN: This is simply the cable companies following the lead of the airlines – how much can we fleece our customers for by charging for luggage, blankets, smiles. Rather than striving to make more money by being more competitive, less wasteful, and offering customers more, far too many American industries are now looking for the quick, easy buck.