AT&T says its average DSL subscriber uses only 18 GB per month, and that only 2 percent of its customers will hit the data cap. But as I wrote nearly a year ago, . That 2-percent figure will almost certainly rise video streaming becomes even more mainstream.

A high-definition Netflix video stream uses about 2GB of data per hour, according to company spokesman Steve Swasey. If you're an AT&T DSL customer who watches one 2-hour HD movie on Netflix every night, you're already at 120GB a month, which leaves 30GB for the rest of your online activities.

Is AT&T's data-cap argument disingenuous? A convenient way to strike back at Netflix? I believe it is, and that the fight has just begun.

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