In a letter being sent to Comcast customers in usage capped markets, the company says that with the recent announcement of usage caps being bumped to 1 terabyte, the company is also capping the amount of additional charges capped users can incur -- to $200 in a single month. As it stands, customers that cross the 1 terabyte limit face overage fees of $10 per each additional 50 GB consumed. But under the revised plans, customers have to pay $50 (up from $30 to $35) extra per month to avoid usage caps entirely.
"Because you are an unlimited data customer, we will maintain your current rate of $35 until the end of 2016," the letter (posted by users in our
forums) reads.
Comcast's recent decision to bump their caps to 1 terabyte weren't driven by altruism. With the FCC preventing Charter from imposing caps for seven years as a merger condition, the agency has signaled that it may start getting more serious about cracking down on usage caps in the broadband market.
If FCC action on caps happens, it likely won't happen until the broadband industry's lawsuit against the FCC's net neutrality rules is settled. A ruling is expected any week now.
Comcast was also motivated to raise its caps to one terabyte after AT&T announced it would begin imposing caps of its own, ranging from 300 GB to 1 terabyte, starting this week.
"Our data plan trials are part of our ongoing effort to create a fair, technologically-sound policy in which customers who use more data pay more, and customers who use less pay less," Comcast has said of the usage cap "trials."
But contrary to what ISPs like Comcast claim, caps are little more than aggressive price hikes on uncompetitive markets, designed to protect revenues from a migration toward streaming video. So while Comcast's decision to raise the cap and limit monthly penalties is welcome, the caps remain little more than a glorified price hike on what's already some of the most expensive broadband in the developed world.
·
