Time Warner Cable unveiled a new pricing structure for broadband Internet access that addresses customer's criticism over the service provider's plans to cap bandwidth usage.

In a statement, Time Warner COO Landel Hobbs said early criticism of the provider's plans to trial bandwidth consumption limits was premature.

We realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused, Hobbs wrote. We've heard the passionate feedback and we've taken action to address our customers' concerns.

Under the new plan, customers can choose between 1GB and 100GBs on various pricing schemes. The 1GB per month plan offers speeds of 768KB download and 128KB upload for $15. The 100GB plan -- called Road Runner Turbo -- brings 10MB download, 1MB upload speeds for $75 per month; anything over that costs $1 per gigabyte up to $150. That means if you want turbo speeds and unlimited Internet access, you'll have to pay $150 per month.

The company had previously referred to a so-called 100-Mbyte super tier, without disclosing pricing.

Some recent press reports about our four consumption based billing trials planned for later this year were premature and did not tell the full story, Hobbs wrote.

With that said, we realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused. We've heard the passionate feedback and we've taken action to address our customers' concerns.

Hobbs said that consumption-based billing has become prevalent overseas, and must be evaluated here in the United States.

If we don't act, consumers' Internet experience will suffer, he wrote. Sitting still is not an option. That's why we're beginning the consumption based billing trials. It's important to stress that they are trials.

Broadband Time Warner