dslreports logo
Comcast: No Plans For Usage-Based Pricing
'We Don’t Want to Nickel-and-Dime Customers at This Point.'

Earlier this month Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett lustfully predicted that one of the major U.S. cable operators would implement per-byte overages in 2012. While Time Warner Cable, Cox and Charter are either interested -- or have tried and failed to implement overage charges -- one company that won't be joining the push any time soon is Comcast. Speaking at an investor conference this week, Comcast Cable president Neil Smit said the nation's largest cable operator isn't interested in "nickel and diming" customers at this point:

quote:
Click for full size
At the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday, Comcast Cable president Neil Smit and CFO Michael Angelakis implied that such plans probably wouldn’t be good for the company’s growing broadband business...Comcast sees the approach as antithetical to its subscriber growth plans. Smit was blunt in his assessment of the pricing model: “We don’t want to nickel-and-dime customers at this point,” he said.
That obviously leaves the door wide open to nickel and diming customers down the road, but Comcast makes it clear users are safe for now. For one thing they compete with Verizon FiOS in more markets than other cable operators. FiOS has yet to implement caps and would use such a Comcast move as marketing fodder. Comcast also was aggressive in deploying DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades and -- when combined with their 250GB cap and de-prioritization systems, makes shifting to such a model completely unnecessary from a network perspective.

On the financial front, most operators are imposing overages not because of network congestion or financial necessity, but because they want to cash in on -- or deter -- the use of Internet video while protecting TV revenues. Except with broadband now replacing TV as the anchor product, Comcast doesn't believe that driving broadband customers to uncapped competitors by imposing a complicated new rate hike structure is good business. Comcast may also be well aware that those who've tried to implement overages -- have struggled to meter usage accurately, something that might ultimately invite regulatory attention.
view:
topics flat nest 

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

quote:
"We Don’t Want to Nickel-and-Dime Customers at This Point."
Are you fucking kidding me?
nysports4evr
Premium Member
join:2010-01-23

1 edit

nysports4evr

Premium Member

Re: Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

I know, right?

EDIT: I don't mean to say that they're particularly bad about nickel-and-diming customers, but that just seems like a stupid thing to say.

whataname
@iauq.com

whataname

Anon

Re: Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

Really? They actually have less nickel and diming than most companies I have seen.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Re: Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

said by whataname :

Really? They actually have less nickel and diming than most companies I have seen.

That's cause it's not nickels and dimes ... it's dollars ... twice a year now. The percentage of increase is many times from 4% to 10%, much more than any other companies providing comparable services.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5 to newview

Premium Member

to newview
said by newview:

quote:
"We Don’t Want to Nickel-and-Dime Customers at This Point."
Are you fucking kidding me?

Yes, Comcast is more into $5 & $10 you to death. They don't bother with nickels and dimes.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

there high box rent / outlet fees sucks.

LowInfoVoter
Vote early, vote often, vote democrat.
join:2007-11-19
USA

LowInfoVoter

Member

Re: Somebody at Comcast trying to be funny?

there where?

Steve B
Premium Member
join:2004-08-02
Auburn, WA

Steve B to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by newview:

quote:
"We Don’t Want to Nickel-and-Dime Customers at This Point."
Are you fucking kidding me?

Yes, Comcast is more into $5 & $10 you to death. They don't bother with nickels and dimes.

Exactly!

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper to newview

Premium Member

to newview
The quote is correct, Comcast does not nickel and dime its customers.

It dollar and five dollars them.
AdmiralGump
Premium Member
join:2007-12-15
Angier, NC

AdmiralGump

Premium Member

LOL

The only reason most ISP's can't goto a usage based system is because nobody can seem to get the usage meters to display actual and true usage.

Having a cap=usage based billing IMO.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: LOL

The Comcast usage meter has been accurate enough for me. It's comparable to (even less than in some case) the numbers that I pull from my DD-WRT equipped router.

Whether 250GB is enough in this day and age is a whole other discussion (for me it is...most months) however their meter *is* accurate so if they did UBB the billing would be correct, if not particularly pleasant for heavy users.
AlfredNewman6
join:2010-03-25
Columbus, OH

AlfredNewman6

Member

Re: LOL

The "heavy user" of today is the normal user of tomorrow. Caps do nothing but cause more trouble than what their worth for the users, avoid the actual problem (network upgrades), trying their best at keeping their current TV subs, if not get more, and putting more money in their EXECs pockets
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: LOL

Correction: heavy users of today are normal users three or four years from now. Then again, Comcast hasn't increased their caps since they've instituted them...though they still offer competitively-priced Business Class service so that's reasonable.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to AdmiralGump

Premium Member

to AdmiralGump
said by AdmiralGump:

The only reason most ISP's can't goto a usage based system is because nobody can seem to get the usage meters to display actual and true usage.

Having a cap=usage based billing IMO.

AT&T's iPhone data is metered billing with an initial prepaid bundle of data. Comcast has a cap - exceed it twice, no internet for you from comcast for a year. See the difference?
JMccovery
join:2011-01-08
Graysville, AL

JMccovery

Member

Re: LOL


Internet Usage
I guess Comcast's enforcement of the cap varies from market to market...

For September to November, my family has used 1.618TB... (Mostly Netflix, we don't subscribe to tv from Comcast)
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

Re: LOL

Irony:
To Comcast you are their worst customer.
To Netflix you are their best customer.

If this doesn't emphasize the need for net neutrality, nothing else does.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: LOL

said by axiomatic:

Irony:
To Comcast you are their worst customer.
To Netflix you are their best customer.

I'm no so sure -- the profit margin to Netflix goes down the more a subscriber uses it. They have to pay for CDN transport costs, plus license fees for every piece of content watched by a subscriber.

The "best" Netflix customer is one who pays for the service and never uses it.
krazyfiend
join:2011-02-15

krazyfiend to JMccovery

Member

to JMccovery
Thank you for making me feel better about the normal usage at my household...

Netflix, a couple of PS3's, a X360, quite a bit justin.tv and Revision3.. No direct download sites (RS,MU,etc), BT , or usenet traffic to speak of, unless the kids got super smart and hacked into my dd-wrt restrictions.



Ytsejamer1
join:2008-01-18
Somersworth, NH

Ytsejamer1 to JMccovery

Member

to JMccovery
Holy Christmas.

I watch mostly Netflix, but also stream through Hulu and other browser based sites...everyday. Netflix is watched sometimes via the browser but mostly Windows Media Center. Is your family watching via Wii or Playstation?

The reason I ask is because on of my friends had to buy Comcast's business service because Netflix (using his Playstation) was sucking up over 350GB per month. My guess is that certain Netflix-ready devices don't have as efficient bandwidth usage as others. I never come close to that...i use about 150GB/mo.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to AdmiralGump

Premium Member

to AdmiralGump
said by AdmiralGump:

The only reason most ISP's can't goto a usage based system is because nobody can seem to get the usage meters to display actual and true usage.

My experience has been that the Comcast metering of my connection has been very accurate for well over a year.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

so go over 250GB and get cut off when others bill you for go

so go over 250GB and get cut off when others bill you for going over.

Nice way to say you can't do what other have?
nysports4evr
Premium Member
join:2010-01-23

nysports4evr

Premium Member

Re: so go over 250GB and get cut off when others bill you for go

I'd certainly rather stay with a (in my opinion) very fairly enforced 250 GB soft cap than usage based billing, but that's just me. I've gone over a bit a few times and there was no complaints from Comcast.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Then stop capping.

Yes, DOCSIS is shared, but at the end of the day, it shouldn't matter if some people use a lot... At least they have the business class offering that is truly unlimited.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

new euphamism

death by a thousand paper cut$

These days we're not talking about a few innocent cents to make a couple of million off of customers, several dollar increases rake in several million dollars which is multiplied by how many MILLIONS of customers that will fall for a price increase.

However, if several thousand can move their money from big banks to a credit union.. there's no reason why in Comcast land (DEFINITELY IN CENTURY-TEL LAND) there can't be more muni-seeded competition ISPs.

On the other hand, there are market reasons why their speed tiers have boosted higher.. and it's not about hitting the 250gb cap faster. It's about keeping the customer happy and paying their monthly bill rather than leaving. If customers wanted to bathe in a thousand paper cuts of death, they'd subscribe to cellular wireless data post paid plans for AT&T and VERIZON.
Wilsdom
join:2009-08-06

1 recommendation

Wilsdom

Member

Re: new euphamism

Competition is illegal. Companies had government set them up with monopolies, and when people try to fund upgrades to decades-old technology that ISPs won't a corrupt legislator submits a bill written by the monopolists outlawing that too.