Comcast Dramatically Expanding Usage Cap Areas December 1

[Poke]

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Dramatically-Expanding-Usage-Cap-Areas-December-1-135551

Comcast continues to ignore customer backlash, and continues to dramatically expand the company's broadband usage caps and overage fees. A close look at Comcast's usage cap "trial" FAQ indicates that the company plans to quietly expand caps into Little Rock, Arkansas; Houma, LaPlace and Shreveport, Louisiana; Chattanooga, Greenville, Johnson City/Gray, Tennessee; and Galax, Virginia starting December 1. In all of these markets users now face a 300 GB monthly usage cap, with $10 per 50 GB overage fees.
Last month Comcast added a new wrinkle: users can pay an even larger fee if they want to avoid usage caps altogether.
Originally the idea of paying a heavy premium to avoid caps was first launched in Florida October 1, where capped markets can now pay $30 (on top of Comcast's already high prices) to avoid caps. In Atlanta Comcast customers have to pay even more: $35.
A copy of the notice being sent to users informs them that they shouldn't worry about the caps, because the "median usage for XFINITY Internet customers is 40 GB of data in a month" and "it appears this new 300 GB data plan will not impact you."

 

[andy_horton]

I gotta.email saying my data cap was 300gb of usage yesterday. Same email.

 

[eurosport]

This is why I have Comcast TV and Windstream internet. (No cap)

 

[whitewolf8214]

Comcast Users Who Netflix Too Much Will Get Charged Extra http://www.cinemablend.com/televisi...Netflix-Too-Much-Get-Charged-Extra-97617.html

The internet these days loves to throw around its fair amount of “Netflix and chill” jokes, suggesting that couples use the streaming service as a possible gateway to romance. However, if Comcast's new data plan has anything to say about it, some folks might just want to call it a night instead. In a story run by MSN Money, the cable giant has been reported to have announced that 300 GB is the metaphorical limit for their users' data usage through their home internet service. We say metaphorical because their data isn't actually limited, rather it's actually capped at the 300GB figure. After that cap, each 50 GB used will be a $10 charge on the bills of Comcast users, with a $30 surcharge presented as an option for unlimited home data. As if wireless companies didn't have enough of a grudge against them for engaging in the same sort of business practices, Comcast has now provided a gateway for cable providers to start following the same example. One has to wonder why they would be giving cord cutters more of a reason to influence their friends to take the plunge, but right there is your biggest reason for data surcharges on home internet services. Simply put, cable companies need a way to recoup the revenue lost from customers opting to only purchase internet services. With customers as of late opting for services like Sling TV, Hulu, and even Netflix as their personal modes of home entertainment, cable providers find themselves having to adapt and evolve to the ever changing market place. Apparently, Comcast thinks that the next step in evolution is to restructure how they offer data, and charge more for folks who use it. If this cap was in order aid the network in handling more traffic from even more users, we could possibly get behind this cap. However Yahoo's take on the story mentions that this data cap is purely for business reasons, and Comcast themselves have trained their employees not to cite “congestion management” for the change, as it isn't.

 

[andy_horton]

I switched to Windstream. Yes, I only get 6MB down but Netflix streams just fine in HD. No buffering or anything. And the rep told me no data caps. I can see if you have a business then you would need 75 or 105MB but for email, surfing, Netflix, Pandora and things like that, 6MB works fine for me.

 

[Voyager6]

Comcast claims data caps are all about "fairness".
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Continues-to-Claim-Usage-Caps-Are-About-Fairness-135599

Unfortunately, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas is being forced to stick to the company's ongoing claim that these rate hikes are about "fairness."

In trying to downplay last week's bad news, Douglas tells Fierce Cable the caps are an attempt to "create a more fair approach, where the heaviest data users pay a little more and the light data users get to pay a little less. It means the heavier data users will pay a little more for us to re-double capacity on our network every 12 to 18 months."
The problem with that narrative continues to be that nobody gets to "pay a little less" under Comcast's new pricing model. Comcast customers already pay some of the highest rates in the developed world for broadband (OECD data), and as households increasingly consume Internet video (and soon 4K streams), Comcast is well aware that the changes effectively mean higher rates for all customers.

In fact, in areas where customers now face new usage caps, they're being told they can now pay $30 to $35 more for the exact same service they enjoyed yesterday. Fairness doesn't much enter into it.